Ideas for how to reimburse evaluation KII/FGD participants

[Carol Miller]

Hello everyone,

As always, wonderful to be part of this community.

I am looking for some advice on logistical (and of course ethical, respectful) ways to reimburse evaluation participants (approx 125 people) for their time participating in evaluation activities. Bank transfers are too cumbersome and expensive as they would involve transfers from Canada to Nepal, India and Brazil.

Has anyone had experience offering electronic gift cards, for example?

Any advice welcome!
Carol

[Houda]

Hi Carol,

I think Electronic gift cards can be a convenient and practical way to reimburse participants. You can choose reputable global gift card providers that offer electronic gift cards usable across multiple countries like Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, or international retailers.

Another option could be "Compensation in Kind"like for example providing non-monetary compensation such as access to educational resources, training opportunities, or memberships may be appreciated by participants.

[Paula Magariños]

Hi Carol, this is Paula Magariños, from Argentina. Probably you've already solved this, but I want to thank you for bringing up this issue. Some institutions do not allow compensations to evaluation participants, which feels wrong to me as everybody else are getting paid for their time and work (evaluators, program´s officials, authorities...)

In Latin America we have tried several compesation strategies. Gift cards are one of them (electronic and physical) but they demand some financial and technical skills to redeem them, or mobile data accounts which make them impractical in some locations (remote, without infraestructure, and/or vulnerable). We have also made agreements with local store owners to deliver groceries or food supplies to participants. This worked well as long as we've given administrative support to them, and we had been very clear about dates and amounts to be claimed by participants. 

We have also brought cash in some occasions, but it increased greatly the fielworking risks. It is neither safe no practical. 

Well, this has been my experience so far. I hope we keep discussing this issue. 

saludos!

Paula 

[Kristeen Chachage]

Hello Carol,

This reply may be too late for your current evaluation, but perhaps for future ideas.... In Tanzania, we have faced a lot of the same situations noted by Paula from Argentina.  The way that we have found to be most convenient is to offer mobile phone credit, which can either be transferred online or via physical vouchers. We've found that using mobile money is also a convenient way to reimburse transport costs.