Our history

BetterEvaluation began in 2009 as an interdisciplinary public good project that aimed to provide high-quality information about the full range of evaluation methodologies.

The first iteration of the BetterEvaluation website went live in October 2012 under the leadership of BetterEvaluation’s founder and former CEO, Patricia Rogers. 

BetterEvaluation was originally hosted as a research project at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), Australia, working with three other founding partners: Pact, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Institutional Learning and Change Initiative (ILAC). 

The project then moved to the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) where it was hosted for two years before incorporating as an independent not-for-profit and charity organisation in 2019.  

BetterEvaluation joined the GEI as a partner in 2021 and became the knowledge platform of the GEI in 2022. The GEI is a global network of organizations and experts supporting developing country governments with strengthening monitoring, evaluation, and the use of evidence in their countries. 

Financial supporters 

Previous financial supporters of BetterEvaluation as a project at RMIT University and ANZSOG include the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), Comic Relief, Research Into Use, Rockefeller Foundation, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the four original founding partners - RMIT University, Pact, ODI, ILAC.  

Financial supporters of BetterEvaluation as a not-for-profit organisation included the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG), the Lucille and David Packard Foundation, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (Danida), RMIT University. 

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