Civora
Guide contents

Department guide

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning

Results frameworks, indicators and targets, validation, data quality, evaluations, learning and community feedback.

Who uses it: M&E officers; project leads for variance explanations and feedbackOpen in Civora

What it is for

MEL holds each project's results framework (impact, outcomes, outputs) and an indicator reference sheet for every indicator. Period targets follow each indicator's reporting frequency, and each closed period is judged against validated results.

Results come only from validated field reports or sourced M&E entries such as surveys. Data quality checks, evaluations with management responses, a lessons log and one recommendations tracker close the learning loop. Community feedback and complaints are handled here too, with sensitive complaints restricted.

Its menu

Each entry in the workspace menu and what you do there. You only see the entries your role allows.

  • Overview

    Results behind or ahead of target, reports to validate, explanations due, open recommendations and feedback.

  • Results frameworksMonitoring

    Each project's logframe and its indicators.

  • Indicators & targetsMonitoring

    Indicators with targets, results and variance; the reference sheet for each.

  • Validation queueMonitoring

    Approved field reports waiting for M&E validation.

  • Data qualityMonitoring

    Spot checks that recount reported figures at source.

  • Report templatesMonitoring

    Field report templates and their versions.

  • EvaluationsEvaluation & learning

    Evaluations from terms of reference to management response.

  • Lessons learnedEvaluation & learning

    The searchable lessons log.

  • RecommendationsEvaluation & learning

    One tracker for recommendations from evaluations, data quality fixes and lessons.

  • Community feedbackAccountability

    All community feedback and complaints, with response times.

  • MEL settingsSettings

    Variance threshold and feedback response standards.

Setting it up

1Build a project's results framework

  1. Open Results frameworks and choose the project.
  2. Add the impact, outcomes and outputs, then the indicators with their reference sheets and baselines.
  3. Set the period targets; they follow each indicator's reporting frequency.

2Design report templates

  1. In Report templates, build the forms field staff fill in; tag fields with indicator codes so validated figures count towards them.

How to

Validate field reports

  1. Open the Validation queue.
  2. Check the approved report against its evidence and validate it; its tagged figures become indicator results.

Explain a variance

The person responsible for the indicator

  1. When a closed period is more than the threshold (±10% by default) off target, an explanation is asked for in your Approvals inbox.
  2. Write what happened and what will change; it goes into the donor report pack.

Handle community feedback

  1. Anyone logs feedback under *Community feedback* in the sidebar.
  2. Ordinary feedback goes to the project lead to acknowledge and answer within your standards.
  3. Staff conduct, fraud and safeguarding complaints go only to MEL and HR case handlers, must be referred within a day, and can open an HR case.

Rules Civora enforces

Controls built into the system, so good practice does not depend on memory.

  • Only validated reports and sourced entries count as results.
  • A result more than the variance threshold off target needs a written explanation.
  • An evaluation cannot close until every recommendation has a management response.
  • Sensitive complaints are hidden from the person who logged them and from the project team.

How it connects

ProgrammesField reports reviewed by programmes are validated here.Grants & FundingResults and variance explanations go into donor report packs.Human ResourcesSafeguarding complaints can open an HR case.

Last checked against Civora on 30 Oct 2026.