SustainAxis Academy · M&E Fundamentals · Module 3 Reading

Indicators, Baselines & Targets

What makes an indicator strong, how to set baselines and targets, and a reusable indicator reference sheet.

What makes an indicator strong

A strong indicator is SMART: Specific (what, who, where), Measurable (a clear unit), Achievable (a realistic target), Relevant (it reflects the change you care about), and Time-bound (by when). If two honest people could disagree about whether it was met, it is not yet an indicator.

From weak to SMART, in one example

Weak: "Farmers are better off." SMART: Percentage of trained farmers in the district reporting a higher maize yield at endline than at baseline, target 70% by project close. Anyone measuring it would arrive at the same answer.

Indicators sit at every level of the chain

Output indicators count what you delivered: number of farmers trained, number of boreholes drilled.
Outcome indicators measure changed behaviour: share of farmers adopting a practice, share of households using safe water.
Impact indicators measure long-term change: household income, disease incidence, herds surviving a drought.

Two kinds, both needed

Quantitative indicators: Numbers and percentages. They tell you how much and how many.
Qualitative indicators: Descriptions of quality and perception. They often tell you why. In a girls' education project, the share of girls who stay in school is quantitative; how safe the girls themselves say they feel on the journey is qualitative.

Three things that make an indicator usable

Baseline: The value of the indicator before the project starts. Without it, you cannot prove change.
Target: The value you aim for by a set time, set honestly against the budget rather than plucked from the air.
Means of verification (MoV): Where the data comes from: attendance register, household survey, KoboToolbox records from the field.

Always disaggregate

Break every indicator down by sex, age, location and disability where possible. An average can hide the very people the project was meant to reach. A project can train two hundred farmers and still have reached almost no women, and only disaggregated data will ever show it.

Indicator reference sheet: a worked example

A WASH outcome indicator, filled in. Figures are illustrative, to show the shape.

Indicator name	Percentage of targeted households using safe drinking water
Results level	Outcome
Definition	Share of targeted households whose main drinking-water source is the improved project source and who store water safely, out of all targeted households
Unit	Percentage
Disaggregation	By community; by female-headed and male-headed household
Means of verification	Household survey at baseline and endline, collected on KoboToolbox
Frequency	Baseline, midline, endline
Baseline	To be established at baseline survey (illustrative)
Target	80% by endline (illustrative)
Responsible	M&E Officer

Blank template to reuse

Print this page and fill one sheet per indicator. Or copy the table into your own document and adapt the fields.

Indicator name
Results level	output / outcome / impact
Definition
Unit
Disaggregation
Means of verification
Frequency
Baseline
Target
Responsible