For each level in the results chain (outputs – effects – impact), indicators have to be found. ‘Indicators’ does not necessarily equal ‘hard numbers’. However for RBM it is important to find indicators that are clear, concise and not up for interpretation. It’s a good idea to list as many indicators as you can to start with, and then select the most pertinent ones. You want these indicators to be:

• Valid: this means that the indicator measures the result
• Sensitive: when the result changes, does the indicator change with it?
• Reliable: does the indicator give the same value over time or when observed by different observers?
• Simple: how difficult is it to gather data and to process it?
• Usable: can we use that information to take decisions and to learn?
• Affordable: do we have the resources to gather the information?

Finding indicators is again a participatory exercise. At the very least people have to be able to be feedback to the indicators you suggest. It’s a good idea to test your draft list of indicators in real-world conditions.

Outreach indicators

Apart from the ‘classic’ output, effect and impact indicators, RBM also uses outreach indicators. Outreach indicators say something about the people that you reach. Very often, project indicators only talk about things like production, quality improvement, availability of services, training and capacities, etc. The human dimension – in other words the very reason for doing a development project in the first place – is totally left out.

RBM pushes you to reflect about outreach on all three levels of the results chain. The higher up the chain, the more difficult it becomes to accurately assess how many people the project will reach. Here are some questions to help you identify the outreach:

• Who are the direct and indirect beneficiaries at each level of the results chain?
• How many people will (ultimately) benefit from the project? How many men and how many women will benefit? What age groups will benefit? How many people from rural or urban areas will be involved?
• What are the main characteristics of these people? What is their social, economic, cultural… situation. What is their health situation? How well are they educated? Are their rights respected? Do they live in fear of violence or conflict? And so on…
• What will the project do for these groups? What will the positive and negative results be?

Where can you find the information for your indicators? You can make use of:

• direct observation
• information from various official reports and statistics
• interviews
• pictures
• satellite images
• …

In some cases it may be interesting to have various sources of information that you can compare to each other (triangulation). Or you may need to combine different sources of information to get a complete picture.

Another question is how you will practically gather the information: using registration forms or questionnaires; registering it in a database or a spreadsheet; doing surveys… You must also decide on how regularly you will gather the information. And last but not least whose responsibility it is to gather what information.

There is more than just deciding on who is responsible for gathering certain pieces of information. It has to be clearly established how the responsibility for achieving the results is shared.

• Who is responsible for what activities and for what tangible outputs?
• How will the resources be distributed and who will manage what resources?
• How will the partners contribute to the project in terms of human resources, funding, time
• etc.

With all this information, the PMF can be established:

The O&A matrix is a planning tool that can be used to elaborate the more practical side of the project. For each output and effect it allows you to specify what activities are necessary, what resources (inputs) you will need and who will be responsible for that activity.