Your input please!
Help me keep tabs on VfI reach and use
Have you used the Value for Investment approach (or Oxford Policy Management’s approach to assessing value for money)? I'm interested in learning where and how you’ve applied it, and your experiences. Even brief insights are welcome. I'm also seeking case examples for future articles. Details below.
The NZ export brew Steinlager launched a series of advertisements in the late 1980s with the tagline, “They’re drinking our beer, here”, with photos of their product in different locations around the world. I thought of those ads recently while I was preparing a presentation on the Value for Investment (VfI) approach. I have a slide that summarises the variety of sectors and settings where VfI has been used. It’s my mission to support this spread and I love to see it being used and (I hope) useful. I wondered:
Am I missing any?
VfI is open access. I offer training and mentoring but I’m not involved in every project and I’m not aware of every instance where the approach has been used.
If you’re using the VfI approach in any sectors or countries I haven’t mentioned below, please let me know!
Sectors / themes (that I know of)
Aged care, agriculture, climate, community services, disability, disaster risk management, early childhood development, economic development, education & training, emergency preparedness & response, energy, environment, financial inclusion, governance, health care, housing, humanitarian assistance, indigenous development, insurance, international aid & development, international trade & enterprise, justice, kaupapa Māori services, labour force, law enforcement, local government, market development, mental health & addictions, nutrition, philanthropy, public financial management, research & development, scientific research & training, social development, social impact, transport, urban design, women’s economic empowerment, women’s rights & health.
Countries (that I know of)
Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, China, Colombia, Cook Is, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, NZ, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Is, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, UK, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
I’m keen to hear from you!
If you or your colleagues are using the Value for Investment approach1 (including OPM’s approach to assessing Value for Money) I’m interested to learn where and how you’re applying it. Anything you’re able to share, even if it’s just a sentence or two. I’d also love to hear how it’s going and if you’re finding it different from other VfM assessment approaches.
Feel free to comment here, if you’re willing and able to share publicly. Alternatively, you can send me a private message.
I’m also on the lookout for potential case examples to share in future Substack articles, which could be on a co-authoring basis - for example, cases that illustrate:
When and why to use the VfI approach
How you’ve combined economic and evaluative thinking in a VfM assessment
Supplementing cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with wider criteria and evidence
Evaluating VfM in cases where CBA wasn’t feasible or wasn’t a good fit
Combining VfI with other methods and frameworks in novel, innovative ways
Facilitation strategies you’ve used to engage stakeholders in co-designing and using rubrics
Challenges in applying the approach and how you addressed them
Anything from this Substack series (no matter how small) that turned out to be useful in a real-world project… etc.
And if you have ideas for future topics I can write about to fill gaps in the guidance, that will be much appreciated too.
Thanks in advance!
Current examples of VfI in action
I share any material I can. As real-world VfI cases become available to share, I add them to my open-access resources page. There you’ll find examples such as the MUVA social incubator for female economic empowerment, the Pakistan Sub-National Governance program, NZ’s Youth Primary Mental Health and Addictions evaluation, and a series of social and economic impact assessments for the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, among others.
Government agencies, consulting firms, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral organisations have used VfI, with applications ranging from rapid evaluations of pilots to the design of whole-organisation evaluation systems, performance frameworks, and assessments of complex, multi-year, multi-country investments such as the £72 million UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions), and £2.2 billion in research funding through the Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund.
My mission is to support VfI capability building. That includes sharing the open-source guidance and examples on my website, writing these Substack articles, growing a network of experienced VfI practitioners, and collaborating with colleagues to support ongoing development and use of the approach as it finds its scale.
We provide VfI training through evaluation associations. VfI is included in whole-of-government evaluation training in the UK and in the online Master of Evaluation program at the University of Melbourne. Private training, mentoring and technical assistance are available. To find out more, check out my website or get in touch.
Thanks for reading!
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Ever feel like value for money (VfM) assessments are too hung up on the money and never quite get to the value? I want to change that. Value for Investment (VfI) is an approach to evaluating whether policies, programs or investments represent good use of resources and create worthwhile value for people. Key aspects of the VfI approach are:
Four Principles
Inter-disciplinary: Combines evaluative and economic thinking
Mixed methods: Uses both quantitative and qualitative evidence
Evaluative reasoning: Interprets evidence through explicit criteria and standards
Participatory: Engages stakeholders in co-designing the evaluation and making sense of evidence.
Eight-Step Process
Understand the program and articulate its value proposition
Define criteria for assessing good resource use
Set standards for the criteria
Determine required evidence
Gather evidence from multiple sources
Analyse the evidence
Synthesise the evidence through the lens of the criteria and standards to judge how well the investment is meeting its value proposition
Present clear answers supported by evidence and reasoning.
VfI accommodates multiple values, data sources, and methods to provide a nuanced understanding of resource use, processes, consequences and value. The approach is designed to be practical, collaborative and contextually responsive, facilitating evaluations that are credible, valid and useful for decision-making.
Details can be accessed via my website: www.julianking.co.nz.