To understand our effectiveness, we combine several strategies, tools, and metrics for assessment, including:

• • • Having a clear mission and vision

    • Completing a thorough needs assessment and baseline data collection

    • Designing our 3-year savings and loan program to meet economic and spiritual needs

    • Establishing measurable goals

    • Listening, collecting substantial data, and using tools such as key performance indicators to track quantitative metrics, including outputs and outcomes

    • Gathering members’ stories, testimonies, and qualitative feedback to further evaluate transformation

    • Conducting independent, third-party evaluations

We are grateful to partner with Dr. Steve DeLoach, Chair of the Economics Department at Elon University, for independent, third-party evaluations that objectively assess our programs and their impact. 

This relationship is pivotal in ensuring that our approach is data-informed and that our impact is measurable. This commitment to evidence-based, independent evaluation helps confirm efficacy and allows us to make informed adjustments for continuous improvement. Ultimately, it ensures that we remain accountable to our mission, partners, and the communities we serve, delivering sustainable change with integrity and transparency.

Independent Impact Assessment

In 2018, Dr. DeLoach began an independent impact assessment of Seed Effect’s program to examine whether Seed Effect members experienced increased self-reliance and empowerment compared to non-participants in the same communities. DeLoach’s study consisted of 1,491 individuals surveyed between 2018 and early 2020, including 939 South Sudanese refugees and 552 Ugandans.

Results of the study support the idea that Seed Effect’s program significantly and positively affects both refugee and host community participants. DeLoach’s review includes the impact of participation on asset accumulation. He reports, 

“Relative to non-participants, members of Seed Effect’s groups on average experienced significant increases in most asset categories over the course of one year.” 

You can read more about his findings and view the report here. 

Control Study (RCT): Lamwo, Uganda

In 2022, Dr. DeLoach initiated a control study in Lamwo, Uganda, coinciding with the launch of Seed Effect’s seventh branch. With this study, Dr. DeLoach surveyed treatment and control populations known to be interested in joining a savings and loan group. This study includes three data collection points spanning over two years:

• • • After mobilizing 60 groups of interested individuals, 40 were randomly selected to immediately start receiving training as savings and loan groups (treatment group) while the remaining 20 would wait one year before receiving training (control group). A sample of both populations were surveyed to serve as the baseline for the study. 

    • One year later, the control groups started receiving training as savings and loan groups. At this point, the sample from both populations was surveyed again – the treatment group having just completed their first year of operation and the control group ending their time with no training from Seed Effect.

    • Two years after the baseline, the sample from both populations was surveyed for a final time. At this point, the treatment groups that were initially trained have been operating for two years while the control groups have been operating for one year.

The last round of data collection will take place in the Fall of 2024 and will then be ready for analysis. We are excited to see what fresh insights Dr. DeLoach will find in this control study that will reveal what impact is being made and what opportunities there are to improve Seed Effect’s operations to serve all of our locations even better. 

Additional Evaluations

Over the next year, Dr. DeLoach and his team will analyze the efficacy of our new agriculture training and the impact of our “Plan for a Better Business” training. They will also analyze the impact of group composition (e.g., all farmers, all mothers with dependents, etc.) on the relative effectiveness of the groups.

We have found that it’s impossible to know whether our strategies lead to tangible outcomes without listening to our members and collecting data. Without independent evaluation, it becomes challenging to ensure objectivity and transparency, as internal biases can cloud our judgment. Working with Dr. DeLoach and his team offers Seed Effect an external, expert perspective on our program’s performance. Their evaluations are unbiased and grounded in rigorous economic analysis, which provides a level of credibility that internal assessments alone cannot achieve. Third-party evaluations help us ensure that the interpretation of the results is sound, confirming that our conclusions are based on evidence rather than assumptions or internal perspectives. It also allows us to dive deep into the data and gain insights into what’s working, what needs improvement, and how we can adjust our programs for maximum impact.

Watch Dr. DeLoach’s assessment of Seed Effect after a recent trip to Uganda.  

Seed Effect’s partnership with ELON and Dr. DeLoach ensures we remain focused on what works, backed by research and measurable results.  By embracing data-informed insights, we can continue to refine our approach and bring hope and economic empowerment to underserved communities, ensuring that our mission is fulfilled effectively and with accountability.