Budgeting for Evaluation
Evaluation is a valuable resource because it helps to ensure that road safety ETP interventions provide value for money and are effective in achieving their aims and objectives. However, evaluation will always incur some financial cost.
The greatest costs are likely to be staff time, and/or external evaluation consultant fees. Other costs may include travel, printing and photocopying, computer software/technical equipment, participant compensation payments, and postage.
Therefore, a budget for evaluation should be set when planning interventions.
The size of this budget needs to be flexible as it will depend upon the:
- Intervention being evaluated
- Type and scope of the evaluation
- Internal evaluation staff involved
- External evaluation consultants (if any)
- Methods chosen for data collection.
It is considered good practice in the UK to allocate up to 10 per cent of the total programme budget for evaluation. In the US, this figure has been known to rise to 20 per cent.
Organisations recommending a total evaluation budget of around 10 per cent include:
- The Department for Transport
Guidelines for Evaluating Road Safety Education Interventions (2004:Pg.7) - The Drug Education and Prevention Information Service (DEPIS)
Evaluation Guidance for Practitioners: A practical guide to evaluating drug education and prevention services for young people (2005: Pg. 21) - The World Health Organisation
Checklist for developing a monitoring and evaluation plan for malaria control (2008: Pg.10) - The Big Lottery Fund
Research and Learning Strategy: 2009-2015 (Pg.7)