Evaluation Support Accounts

An Evaluation Support Account (ESA) is when ESS has a contract with a funder so that grantholders can access ESS training and/or 1-1 tailored support and the funder pays. We might also run other workshops and shared learning programmes.

Feedback from funders and funded organisations shows that ESAs

1. Build organisations’ evaluation confidence and capacity 
2. Use learning from evaluation for celebration and improvement
3. Improve their reporting to funders 
4. Help them apply successfully for funding from other funders

ESAs are great for helping small organisations access support they would not otherwise be aware of or realise they need.

We currently have ESAs with:

• The National Lottery Community Fund
• The RS Macdonald Charitable Trust
• Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Other funders will often pay for evaluation support so third sector organisations should always ask their funder if that’s an option.

This short presentation has learning from a previous version of our ESA with The National Lottery Community Fund.