Monitoring projects along the partnership path

When the subject at hand is choosing a way to monitor a social project, an ocean of possibilities opens up to carry it out, with various donors, philanthropists and foundations opting for different paths, in an attempt to understand the process, map the social impact generated and understand the results of the actions. As this is a broad topic, in this post we will talk about the general concept of this activity in Brazilian philanthropy and also what the practice is like in the Greater Good Movement.

What is social project monitoring?

When making a social investment, the donor's intention is very clear: that the money allocated is useful, in some way, to generate social impact at the end, with a focus on the cause that an organization embraces, and be able to transform reality and the dignity of people in situations of social vulnerability.

But how do you know if the investment has managed to generate systemic social change? Will the support actually make a difference to the impacted public? How to know this? So, in general, in philanthropy carried out in Brazil, the concept of social project monitoring represents the process of obtaining information, collecting data, having evidence of the actions carried out and verifying whether social actors are carrying out the activities as planned, reaching the moment when the investor and the institution talk about the actions and results of social investment.

During this dialogue, depending on the level of relationship between the parties, issues such as accountability, schedule, evaluation of social projects, visibility of actions, formulation of reports, methodology used and stipulated goals can be discussed. .

On the one hand, there is an investor, who identifies with and believes in a certain cause, and seeks to understand whether the investment thesis adopted promotes any social transformation. As this person receives data and information about the investment, a scenario of security is established to make other contributions and a special feeling of having supported a cause. On the other hand, there is the organization that, by being transparent and concerned with generating data capable of proving the results obtained, makes its seriousness clear to its stakeholders, in addition to transmitting credibility and, consequently, gaining strength in the process. to attract new supporters.

How do we follow up

Instead of following the line of monitoring, Movimento Bem Maior goes along the path of collaboration with partner social organizations. The aim is to build an exchange relationship based on trust and the mutual exchange of learning, the vision that each person has and the sharing of knowledge and experiences.

The entire process is based on theses that meet the vision we have about systemic transformation, that is, the ability to completely affect the organism and the structure of the cause. Such transformation advocates, through a social investment strategy, the creation and strengthening of social systems that can be responsive in a world full of complex and constantly changing challenges.

Circles of conversation

One practice we have, for example, is quarterly conversation circles with the organizations we support. This is a moment of rapprochement and exchange. On the one hand, social leaders share the objectives achieved and the learning they have obtained, generating collective intelligence, in addition to highlighting the challenges they are facing, to understand how we can help them. On the other hand, we learned more about the cause and the way in which organizations develop a certain social technology that has the potential to transform the territory where it operates.

MBM seeks to support both organizations with a national reach – so that they can create innovative and scalable social solutions, both at a territorial level and also in terms of social technology, for example, and that serve as a reference to inspire public policies –, as well as working to boost organizations local areas, which tend to be in regions where public policies do not reach them and which are off the radar of major social investments.

Futuro Bem Maior

One of the forms of support comes through the Futuro Bem Maior program, which encourages community-based social entrepreneurship by investing in organizations and collectives that, no matter how small, have the capacity to connect deeply with the local population, building responses to social challenges and strengthening the development of the region where they operate.

To monitor the Greater Good Future, MBM seeks to understand the journey of partner organizations, observing indicators relating to the maturity reached (how much the organization managed to develop institutionally), the performance obtained, the reach of visibility and financial sustainability.

The sense of collaboration is always very strong. When a collective, for example, reports its difficulties, MBM can share its expertise or form a bridge with another institution that has already faced and overcome similar challenges. And, during the exchange of information, we also learned a lot from the work of social leaders, which also has the potential to benefit other organizations in the future.

By establishing partnerships, monitoring projects carried out collaboratively, identifying leaders, sharing learning, disseminating good practices and success stories, a good network is expanded and improved. And thus, some important steps are taken on the path towards social transformation in Brazil.

.  .  .

This article was written by

Beatriz Waclawek, Project Coordinator of Movimento Bem Maior