Influence Of Monitoring And Evaluation Practices On Performance Of Projects Funded By Faith Based Organisations In Meru North, Meru County Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate the performance of projects linked to Faith based organizations in Meru North. The study was guided by 4 objectives namely; to determine the influence of M&E Planning on performance of projects funded by faith based organizations, to examine the influence of Monitoring and evaluation data collection and analysis on performance of projects funded by faith based organizations, to assess the influence of Staff Capacity in M & E on performance of projects funded by faith based organizations and to establish the influence of utilization of results in M&E on performance of projects funded by faith based organizations. The study used 4 theories namely; Theory of Change, Results based management Theory, Program Theory and Prospect Theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study targeted the management of the 47 Faith Based Organizations in Meru North comprising of consisting of steering committee, resource officers, team leaders and project committee members. From the target population of 347, a sample of 186 were selected for this study. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Questionnaires were administered as key instruments for data collection. Quantitative data was analyzed and presented through descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS (version 25) whereas qualitative data was summarized using detailed narrative. The findings were presented in form of tables. The study found that technical experts are employed to run the respective areas in the projects, that that project staff are trained in order to equip them with skills necessary to carry out M&E and that that the skills and competence of the staff helps them to participate effectively in Monitoring and evaluation. It was concluded that M&E planning had the greatest influence on performance of projects funded by Faith Based Organizations in Meru North, Meru County Kenya followed by utilization of results, then monitoring and evaluation data collection and analysis while staff capacity had the least influence on the performance of projects funded by Faith Based Organizations in Meru North, Meru County Kenya. The study recommends that all relevant stakeholders’ interests’ impact and influence should be enhanced in planning. Further, the organization need to have a computerized database for storage and analysis software’s and data collection tools; have skilled personnel and progress and results review platforms and reporting templates. It is recommended that the organizations should support adequate training of the field staff involved in monitoring and evaluation through offer of adequate training for the requisite skills