03. Investment in Capacity to Learn What Works

The agency invests at least 1% of program funds for evaluation and uses evaluation findings to advance its mission.

5 agencies meet this criterion

Subcriteria

3.1. The agency allocates at least 1% of program funds for evaluation.

Learn More

Results for America has long called on Congress to help agencies meet this criterion by setting aside 1% of discretionary grant program funds for evaluation. See, for example, our 2025 Invest in What Works Coalition Requests, our 2023 recommendations with America Forward for WIOA Reauthorization, and our 2022 What Works Guide for Federal Legislation.

Leading Example

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

MCC is a true leader in allocating agency budget funding to evidence generation and use. To ensure that data and evaluations are used to advance the agency’s mission, MCC invested $12.1 million in evaluations, evaluation technical assistance and evaluation capacity-building during FY 2024. This represented 1.7% of the agency’s $701 million program budget for that year.

This kind of investment ensures an enduring commitment to evidence-based approaches that enable ongoing compliance with its authorizing legislation, but also efficiency, transparency and positive impact for people around the world. (Read more on p. 26 of The Power of Evidence to Drive America’s Progress.) In addition to its funding, MCC has significantly expedited its processes to publish the evidence it gathers and sometimes produces in its Constraints-to-Growth Analyses with countries where MCC works. Specifically, since December 2023, MCC has published 10 new Constraints Analysis reports. For all 10 reports, MCC has cut the time it takes to publish once the Constraints Analysis are completed — from years to months.