New on 3ie website: Web profiles of member agencies

3ie is pleased to announce that we are launching member profiles as a new website feature to showcase the important work our members are doing with impact evaluation.

3ie’s 45 member agencies include public and private donors, NGOs and government agencies in low- and middle-income countries. They are funders and/or implementers of development programmes and are committed to building capacity and support for evidence-based decision making. They are consumers of impact evaluation evidence and are an important part of 3ie’s strategic vision.

The profile for each member can be easily accessed by clicking on their listing on the 3ie members’ web page. The profiles, written in consultation with members, offer information on their interest in and experience with impact evaluation. They also include examples of members’ engagement with 3ie and other members, such as providing support for 3ie programmes, helping to plan our annual members’ conference, hosting a study tour for other members, presenting at 3ie-organised events and receiving training and technical support from 3ie experts.

The new website feature is one of several ways that 3ie is responding to increased demand from members for activities and support for member networking and peer learning. This demand was identified in 2015, when 3ie conducted a survey and interviews with member agencies to better understand how they perceive their role within 3ie and the benefits they gain from membership. The findings showed that while members remain interested in receiving funding and professional services from 3ie, they are increasingly coalescing as a community of practice. To that end, they responded that they wanted 3ie to provide more opportunities for members to learn from and share experiences and best practices with each other and with 3ie.

3ie sees a clear link between our engagement with individual agencies and increased support for members as a community. Building the capacity of individual members to use impact evaluation evidence to inform their policies and programmes helps them share the lessons learnt better with the community. In turn, more knowledge and experience within the community as a whole can be shared with individual members. As our membership increases, 3ie hopes to play a coordinating role for the community of practice.

Overall, we see the profiles as a resource to help members and potential members start conversations with 3ie and with each other about potential areas for collaboration and learning. We are also learning from the profiles, or more accurately through the process of creating them, which involves several rounds of communication and feedback from members. We have a better understanding of which aspects of our membership are valued most by individual agencies, and are gaining a deeper appreciation for the contributions that members regularly make to 3ie.

The first batch of profiles are going live on our website in April 2016 in conjunction with members’ conference. More profiles of members will continue to be added and all profiles will be updated at least once a year. We will also prominently feature at least one member on the 3ie website every month.

Check out our new member profiles here

(Jennifer Ludwig  is a Senior Program Manager at 3ie)