About NCVO Charities Evaluation Services

NCVO Charities Evaluation Services is a leading evaluation consultancy for the voluntary sector. Over the last 25 years we have worked with tens of thousands of voluntary organisations and their funders and commissioners.

Charities Evaluation Services was set up in 1990 to help the UK voluntary sector become more effective. Following the successful merger of Charities Evaluation Services and NCVO, NCVO Charities Evaluation Services (NCVO CES) was formed in November 2014. Our team of consultants works closely with around 20 associates. Many of our staff and associates have been with us for over ten years.

Alongside our training and consultancy services, we have a range of practical, step-by-step guides to evaluation and impact assessment. Charities Evaluation Services’ guides published before our merger with NCVO are also available online. Prior to the merger we also produced PQASSO, the best-used voluntary sector quality assurance system; this is now managed by NCVO’s PQASSO team.

We have a deep understanding of best practice in evaluation and impact assessment but have all worked in front-line charities ourselves. As a result, our approach is robust yet pragmatic and flexible. We aim to get high-quality evaluation data in a user-friendly way, without overburdening our clients.

Our approach is based on partnership. Working together to agree what is to be evaluated, and how, improves the evaluation.

We believe that evaluation and impact assessment should be useful. We work closely with clients to ensure we get the information they need for accountability and developing their work.