Jump to:
- What is a VfM assessment and why is it useful?
- How to undertake a VfM assessment
- What makes a good VfM assessment?
- Case study: using a VfM assessment to shape ISF programme decisions
- Why conduct an economic appraisal?
- Putting VfM into practice
With international development budgets under scrutiny, it’s more important than ever to help decision-makers understand the VfM of their programme investments.
In our previous blog, we introduced a simple, practical VfM toolkit to support programme teams in monitoring and measuring VfM. In this follow-up, we take a closer look at another key part of the process: VfM assessments.
Read our previous blog: Navigating value for money in complex programmes
Drawing on our experience supporting the UK Government’s Integrated Security Fund (ISF) globally, we explore how and when to use VfM assessments to inform programme adaptation and help decision-makers maximise the value and impact of their investments.
What is a VfM assessment and why is it useful?
While VfM monitoring helps you track progress over time (for example, ‘are we delivering efficiently?’), a VfM assessment provides a more comprehensive view.
A VfM assessment draws on all available evidence to assess the overall value of a programme’s investment, looking beyond day-to-day performance to examine outcomes, impact, and strategic relevance.
In practice, it combines analysis against a programme’s VfM criteria (as outlined in its VfM framework) with evidence from outcome and impact evaluations. It can be conducted at any stage of the programme cycle:
- Early-stage assessments help inform funding and design decisions.
- Mid-point reviews guide adaptation and course correction.
- End-of-programme assessments support strategic planning and future resource allocation.
A VfM assessment can help to:
- Identify efficiencies – highlighting where savings can be made without compromising quality or results.
- Surface risks – such as operational challenges, staff turnover, or external threats that could affect delivery and VfM.
- Inform decisions – by providing robust evidence on the value of current investments and guiding future funding choices.
- Boost effectiveness – ensuring that budgets are directed toward activities delivering the greatest return on investment.
Ultimately, VfM assessments help to demonstrate a programme’s value to key stakeholders – including ministers, senior leaders, the public, and international partners – by showing not just what was delivered, but what was achieved for the investment made.
How to undertake a VfM assessment
A VfM assessment can be conducted either as part of a broader evaluation – incorporating VfM-relevant questions and methods – or as a standalone exercise. In both cases, the assessment approach should be tailored to:
- The specific characteristics of the intervention.
- The existing body of evidence.
- The broader context in which the programme operates.
A robust VfM assessment typically draws on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including:
- Review of existing evidence, such as VfM monitoring reports, results data, contextual analysis, and information on the programme’s expected long-term outcomes.
- Targeted data collection, for example through structured interviews with project staff, delivery partners, stakeholders, and beneficiaries.
- VfM case studies, showcasing examples from different programme components or activities.
- Proportionate economic appraisal, to assess costs relative to benefits (we’ll explore this in more detail later).
Regardless of the methods chosen, stakeholder engagement is critical.
Programme staff at all levels, delivery partners, strategic stakeholders, and – where feasible – beneficiaries should be involved throughout the assessment process. Their perspectives enrich the analysis and help ensure the findings are relevant, credible, and actionable.
What makes a good VfM assessment?
Based on our experience conducting VfM assessments across a wide range of ISF programmes, we’ve identified several key practices that enhance both the value of the assessment and the overall effectiveness of the programme.
1. Engage programme teams and partners from the start
The quality and usefulness of a VfM assessment increase significantly when programme teams and delivery partners are involved early and remain engaged throughout. This ensures the assessment is grounded in operational realities, enhances ownership of the findings, and results in insights that are practical, relevant, and actionable.
2. Incorporate economic appraisal thoughtfully
Economic analysis can add real value to VfM assessments – even in complex or small-scale programmes. It helps identify key drivers of value and spotlights evidence gaps, particularly around long-term benefits. These insights can guide both immediate programme improvements and future strategic planning.
3. Include a broad range of stakeholder perspectives
To capture the full value of a programme, VfM assessments should go beyond programme teams and partners to engage those directly affected by the programme, such as local stakeholders, communities, or beneficiaries. These diverse perspectives help surface both intended and unintended impacts and contribute to a more balanced assessment of value.
4. Coordinate with other evaluation activities
Aligning VfM assessments with broader evaluation efforts increases efficiency and strengthens the overall evidence base. Early VfM insights can inform subsequent evaluations, while coordinated planning allows for streamlined data collection, shared interviews, and reduced duplication across assessments.
5. Time the assessment to support decision-making
Planning VfM assessments around key decision points in the programme cycle ensures the findings are timely and directly inform resource allocation, programme design, and strategic direction. Well-timed assessments are more likely to influence real change.
Case study: using a VfM assessment to shape ISF programme decisions
The ISF-funded Serious Organised Crime (SOC) Strategy Toolkit project supports the UK’s contribution to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its Protocols – the principal international instruments to combat transnational organised crime.
Led by the Home Office, the project aims to enhance collaboration with overseas partners and leverage multilateral platforms to:
- Help reduce crime in the UK;
- Mitigate transnational security threats (including those posed by organised crime groups); and
- Tackle illegal migration.
In 2024, Itad conducted a Value for Money (VfM) assessment to inform future funding decisions and strengthen the project’s impact. Key findings and recommendations included:
- Clear long-term returns: The assessment provided strong evidence of significant and sustainable benefits. It estimated a plausible return of at least £4.50 for every £1 invested.
- Cross-government opportunity: The assessment identified scope to increase engagement across HMG and capitalise on growing interest in national SOC strategy development. The Home Office used the toolkit and established relationships to support additional objectives – such as tackling fraud.
- Sharpening the focus on long-term outcomes: The assessment recommended better targeting of project activities towards reducing global SOC threats, a core long-term objective.
- Strengthening follow-up and accountability: A recommendation was made to check on the implementation of national strategies post-development. In response, the Home Office allocated additional funding to test how strategies were being implemented in countries that had adopted them – deepening understanding of longer-term impact.
This assessment was particularly effective due to several success factors:
- Strong engagement: Both the project team and implementing partner were open, constructive, and eager to learn from the assessment process.
- Stakeholder breadth: The assessment was informed by a diverse range of stakeholders with insight into the project’s broader strategic positioning and relevance to UK priorities.
- Adaptive, collaborative delivery: The assessment team worked flexibly and collaboratively to shape the process in ways that aligned with decision-making needs, ensuring the findings were timely and actionable.
This project is implemented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and is funded by ISF and managed in the Home Office Global SOC Portfolio.
Why conduct an economic appraisal?
A proportionate economic appraisal can be a powerful component of a VfM assessment. It provides a structured way to estimate the long-term benefits of a programme relative to its costs – helping decision-makers better understand overall value.
Return on Investment (RoI)
One of the key outputs of an economic appraisal is a Return on Investment (RoI) estimate – typically expressed as:
“For every £1 invested, the programme is expected to return £X.”
This simple metric helps communicate the potential value of a programme in clear terms. However, it’s important to view RoI as an indicative estimate, not a precise figure. Its reliability depends on the strength of the evidence, and many long-term benefits take time to fully materialise. RoI should be seen as a tool to explore plausible VfM, not a definitive measure.
Economic Appraisal Process
The process involves several key steps:
- Identify long-term benefits the programme aims to achieve.
- Map the pathways by which these benefits are expected to emerge.
- Estimate contribution and value:
- Make informed assumptions about the programme’s likely contribution to each benefit.
- Assign approximate monetary values to each benefit based on available data, literature, stakeholder insights, and expert judgment.
This combination of evidence and expert input helps build a reasoned, transparent estimate of long-term programme value.
Accounting for uncertainty and contextual change
Many programmes operate in dynamic or high-risk environments, where future conditions are hard to predict. In these cases, it’s useful to model a range of scenarios to reflect how changes in context could affect outcomes.
Where long-term evidence is limited, breakeven analysis becomes especially valuable. It identifies the minimum level of benefit required for a programme to cover its costs, helping to clarify under what conditions the programme is likely to deliver VfM.
Putting VfM into practice
As development budgets face increasing pressure, getting the most out of your VfM approach is more important than ever. A well-planned VfM assessment, combined with proportionate economic appraisal, can strengthen decision-making, support strategic adaptation, and clearly demonstrate the value of your programme to stakeholders.
To help you get started or refine your approach, explore our VfM Toolkit — a practical, step-by-step guide for programme teams. It offers tools and templates to support both day-to-day VfM monitoring and in-depth assessments.
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
Are you working on VfM assessments or trying to improve the way your programme demonstrates value? We’d love to hear from you.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to build on your existing VfM approach, get in touch to discuss challenges, share experiences, or explore collaboration opportunities.
