USAID Evaluations: Basic Information – Part 1
Over the past eight years, I’ve evaluated a number of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects, about two per year, on average. This and a follow-up post (to come) sum up things I’ve learned.
The post is mainly aimed at evaluators who haven’t conducted USAID evaluations but are interested in doing so, or are just curious about how the process works.
I’ll go over the somewhat dry, but important nuts and bolts issues of doing USAID evaluations as an independent consultant. The next post on this subject will cover implementing the evaluations.
Some context
For those who may not have great familiarity with it, USAID is the largest U.S. bilateral development agency. It devotes budget resources to helping countries in the name of U.S. national security and economic prosperity . These days, that amounts to over $19 billion worth of foreign assistance. (The Department of State manages a similar amount.) That’s a tiny slice of the total U.S. annual budget of $4.4 trillion, as of 2019.
Interestingly enough, after four years of the Trump Administration, both USAID and its budget have survived largely intact. Given the attitudes expressed by the President on the subject of foreigners and the countries they live in, this might seem surprising. However, foreign assistance is generally a low priority for most American presidents, and quite possibly off the radar for the 45th.
Although USAID funds hundreds of projects that vary in focus, scope, size and geographic location, they have one thing in common: at some point, they all get evaluated. That’s where evaluators come in.
USAID’s guidelines call for its country offices to spend between 5 and 10 percent on personnel resources for performance management and, out of that, to earmark about 3 percent on external performance and impact evaluation. A rough, back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests this is equivalent to somewhere between $14 and $28 million per year on evaluations. Dozens of companies vie for these contracts, and they rely heavily on independent consultants to put their evaluation teams together.
Nationality
Work on USAID evaluations is not restricted to US citizens. It is qualifications, not nationality, that matter.
Often, evaluation team members hired by consultant firms are not even based in the US. I’ve been on teams made up of colleagues of all nationalities, who live all over the world, and we only meet in the country of the assignment to do the field work.
Some firms have a policy of prioritizing the hiring of country nationals. This makes sense, as there are no international travel costs, locals know the country better and are well-connected, not to mention that their rates are lower, reflecting the local labor market conditions. COVID-related travel restrictions have created even more opportunities for country nationals.
English language skills are important for evaluation team members, but not every team member needs to be proficient in written English.
A typical team includes a mix of international consultants and local consultants. I’ve been on teams as small as two and as large as eight, not including any surveyors responsible for collecting quantitative data.
The diversity that comes from a mix of international and local perspectives improves the quality of an evaluation. International consultants bring experience from work in other countries, while local consultants know their own country better than anyone from outside.
Contractual arrangements
On evaluations, individual consultants are contracted under what is referred to Short Term Technical Assistance, or STTA. The alternative would be to work as a full-time staff for the consulting firm.
Individual consultants never work directly for USAID on evaluations, in my experience. They are always sub-contracted by private firms or NGOs that have contract with USAID.
Sometimes the staff from the firms are part of evaluation teams, but usually they provide managerial support, directing and managing the evaluation process. This includes liaising with USAID, handling administration and logistics issues, ensuring deadlines are met, quality control, report formatting, etc.
Daily rate
USAID contracts pay by the day. That means they are based on a daily rate, and on a set number of days agreed to in advance.
In development lingo, contract days are referred to as “level of effort’ or LOE. The term actually makes sense, since the number of days signals the amount of effort you are expected to put in. It should guide you when managing your time.
For example, if you are subcontracted as a STTA by a firm (the contractor) to do a USAID evaluation, you may get 40 days of work (your LOE is 40), which is what you have to finalize all the work. I’ve had contracts from 22 to 60 days, with 45 being the average.
On their invoices, however, normally consultants are asked to bill by the hour. Most consulting firms will have their won combination invoice/timesheet template which consultants are asked to complete and submit on a monthly basis.
There is a maximum USAID rate, or “USAID max,” above which contractors will almost never go. In 2020 the USAID maximum was $698 per day. I’ve only heard of one case where a consultant refused to take USAID max, which was well below her standard rate. She told the firm that wanted to hire her, “This my rate, take it or leave it.” She got the contract. That type of case seems to be rare, however. It is up to you whether you are willing to work for USAID max, try to negotiate more, or not work on USAID evaluations.
Beyond the total amount you receive in fees (your daily rate times the number of contract days), all your expenses will be covered. This includes hotel, meals and incidentals, communication, and transportation. You will also normally receive a standard per diem (set by the Foreign Service) to cover meals and incidentals.
Firms usually place consultants in very decent hotels. This is not Peace Corps work where you live in a village for months and years at a time. There is little chance of going native while doing an evaluation.
The biodata form
USAID uses what’s called a biodata form (technically the Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet) also referred to as the “1420 form.” As a consultant, you need to fill it out by listing all your employment or assignments going back three years. It only gives you three lines, though. So, if you have had more than three assignments during that time period (which applies to most consultants), simply attach an addendum to the form listing the rest.
In the past, the 1420 form had a column for salary or daily rate for each assignments. Asking about salary history is no longer legal in many US states, as it puts the consultant at a disadvantage, so the form no longer has a column for salary. However, consultant firms will probably still ask you to provide a rationale for why you are requesting x for your daily rate.
The contractor role
The firm that hires consultants normally provides good management and back-office support. It may also provide one or more of the team members. The firm will manage the schedule, arrange travel, hire local firms or consultants, manage the relationship with USAID, and relieve you of other administrative matters. This allows you, as a core team member, to focus on the substantive aspects of the evaluation.
There are firms that take good care of their consultants and are professional in managing the entire process. If you have a good experience with them, and they have a good experience with you, chances are high that you will work with them again. There are also bad firms that you will want to avoid. Working for an unfamiliar firm means taking a risk. Sometimes the risk is worth it.
Evaluation schedule
USAID doesn’t tend to dawdle, at least once the evaluation is ready to start. It is best to approach USAID evaluations in a spirit of ruthless efficiency. The entire evaluation may be completed in 3-6 months and you may only get 10 days or less to draft a final report. This is in stark contrast to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) timelines, where an evaluation can drag on for years and years.
How to get work on USAID projects
A question that comes up a lot is, how can I work on a USAID evaluation if I haven’t worked on one before? That’s because consulting firms, when hiring for a USAID evaluation, are looking for prior USAID experience. That can be a hurdle. (USAID vets the proposed evaluation team, by the way, and can ask a firm to replace a consultant if they don’t believe he or she is qualified.)
Of course, logic dictates that, at some point, every single person working on a USAID evaluation (or a USAID project, or at USAID itself, for that matter) initially had no USAID experience. My advice is, get as close as you can to the real thing – maybe you were on a project that partnered with USAID, or have done an evaluation project with a different US agency, or worked on an assignment for a similar bilateral agency? Those are all possible entry points for the would be novice USAID evaluator.
It can also happen that a firm is simply desperate for someone with your qualifications, and that will be enough to force the door open. It also never hurts to demonstrate your enthusiasm and eagerness to do the work. Recruiters like to see that spark of interest, and it can make you stand out. I find that the work is, in fact, often interesting, and usually enjoyable.
Having worked on a number of USAID evaluations, I’ve come away with an overall positive impression – the work that’s done is, by and large of good quality, and really does seem to help people. Which, as a U.S. taxpayer, is good to see.
Updated December 30, 2020 and March 30, 2021