Rocket SCIENCE evaluation support: MEL toolkit
Practical, free resources for Camden’s voluntary and community organisations
Want to understand the difference your work makes, gather feedback in ways that suit the people you support, or use what you learn to improve? Rocket Science developed these resources as part of the We Make Camden MEL support programme, funded by London Borough of Camden.
The toolkit is free for Camden voluntary and community organisations to access. You do not need to be part of the funded live-support programme to use the resources. You can start with whichever question is most useful to you – there is no need to work through everything in order.
I’m new to monitoring, evaluation and learning. Start with Introduction to MEL.
I want to explore someone’s journey through our support. Try A Resident’s Journey.
I want to explain how our activities could lead to change. Use the Project Story of Change template.
I want new ways to hear from residents and gather feedback. Explore Creative Ideas for Reflection and Data Collection.
I want to reflect with colleagues and use what we learn. Use the Delivery Team Reflection and Discussion Guide.
Choose a starting point below, download the resource and adapt any relevant prompts or templates for your own work. Where an editable version is available, you can personalise it to your organisation; the PDF remains a useful reference copy.
A short starting point if you want to understand what monitoring, evaluation and learning mean, why they matter and what information might be useful to collect. It includes examples ranging from the reach of your activities to residents’ experiences and outcomes.
How to use it: read it yourself or discuss it with colleagues. Identify one or two questions you would like MEL to help you answer, rather than trying to collect everything listed.
A one-page visual tool for thinking through a resident’s experience: what things were like beforehand, how they heard about the support, why they took part, what they accessed and what changed afterwards.
How to use it: use the prompts with colleagues to sketch a resident’s journey, distinguishing what you know from what you are assuming. This can help you identify what you might explore directly with residents through suitable, accessible feedback methods.
A one-page template to help explain who your project is for, what you provide, how residents’ experiences and feedback matter, what changes you hope to support and your longer-term goal.
How to use it: complete the template for one project or activity with colleagues. Use it to discuss how your activities connect to intended change, then revisit it as you learn more.
A practical guide to gathering views and feedback in ways other than standard surveys. It includes voting jars, fictional personas, images and emojis, snowball feedback, future visioning, photos and storyboards, and live polls.
How to use it: choose an approach that fits the people you work with and the question you want to answer. Adapt it to your setting, taking account of accessibility, consent, ethics and safeguarding.
A set of prompts to help staff and volunteers reflect on what they are seeing and hearing, what is working well, what is difficult, what people are experiencing, and what they might do differently.
How to use it: select a few questions for a regular team discussion or individual learning log. Agree a practical next step and return to it later to see what happened when you made a change.
The toolkit above is available to Camden’s voluntary and community sector. Rocket Science also delivers free group learning sessions and tailored 1:1 monitoring, evaluation and learning support for organisations eligible through participating London Borough of Camden funding programmes.
To ask about the funded MEL support offer or check whether your organisation is eligible, contact Ciaran McDonald, Head of Evaluation and Impact at Rocket Science: ciaran.mcdonald@rocketsciencelab.co.uk.
Rocket Science also supports organisations beyond the Camden-funded programme with evaluation and impact measurement, strategy and service design, and end-to-end fund management. Organisations interested in wider support are welcome to get in touch to discuss work that could be commissioned separately: ciaran.mcdonald@rocketsciencelab.co.uk.
For other voluntary-sector support from VAC, see VAC’s Consultancy Support Form.