Summary of the *Term of ReferenceConsultant:
Program Midterm External evaluation
(CEE)Report Type:
External Evaluation
Period
covered
:
Accelerator
Programme
:
1/March
/
2021 – 31/ August
/
2024
Refugee Employment
Programme
:
1/July/2022 -
31/October/2024
.
Accelerator
Programme
:
1/March2025 - 30/September/2025Geography:
Poland and Romania*
Access the complete Term of Reference here
.General purpose:
to evaluate the performance
, including its impact and its learnings,
of the
NESsT
CEE
Acceleration
Program
s
implemented
in
partnership with
IKEA Social Entrepreneurship (ISE)
.Context
Program Justification
There is a large gap that currently exists in
ecosystems
where IKEA and
NESsT
are present. Social entrepreneurs are often given support to launch their
initial
business ideas;
but then they are oftenleft on their own to
validate
and grow their businesses
.
There is a blatant lack of support for this “missing middle” stage, when entrepreneurs continue to need business services as well as philanthropic and soft capital support to build out their businesses
.
NESsT
and
IKEA Social Entrepreneurship
have partnered to address this gap head on.
I
n
CEE
the parties agreed on
t
hree-year program to equip 3
2
socialentrepreneurs
in the aggregate
togrow their enterprises and provide dignified income and employment to vulnerable people in
Poland and Romania.
Through this cooperation,
the parties
will
demonstrate
and sharethepracticesthat are bestsuited to help social entrepreneurs scale their impact.
Components
The program provides
social
entrepreneurs with the business services and
appropriate financial
capital needed to expand their national and global markets and be able to significantly increase their reach and impact. The partnership supports enterprises that
are providing dignified employment to excluded communities and
are
preparedto
scale or growth stage.
Theseenterprises
have a business model with a proven cost-revenue structure and
capacity
to respond to market
demand;
however,
they still
need to develop the team, systems, and structures needed for growth.
NESsT
local teams who have proven knowledge, skills and experience in social enterprise development will provide these services
.
Theyalso
leverage
the
support from IKEA´s coworkers
and from other corporate potentially,
and
pro bono support of
NESsT’s
network
, who act
as
advisors and mentors
, providing
industry
expertise
, market access as well as other tailored services.
NESsT
plans, whenever possible, to also
leverage
the support of IKEA’s local value chain.
The use and intended users of the evaluation:
The primary objective of this evaluation is to support
NESs
T
in assessing the
contribution of the accelerator programs to the performance and progress of portfolio companies
participating in the acceleration program.
The evaluation will extract key insights and lessons learned to inform strateg
ic improvements and enhance the overall effectiveness of the program.
The findings will be
utilized
by
NESsT’s
directors and portfolio management team to guide data-driven decision-making and strengthen program design and delivery. Furthermore, key funding partners—including IKEA Social Entrepreneurship (ISE)
— will
leverage
the
evaluation of
results for impact reporting, program oversight, and alignment with their strategic
objectives
.
2. The Consultancy
Deliverable:
the consultant will prepare a Program Midterm Evaluation Report.
The program midterm evaluation will focus on relevance, efficiency, and effectiveness
i
. In addition, the evaluation will provide recommendations to improve the design, execution and
consequently
the possibility of achieving the entrepreneurial and impact
objectives
of this program
.
The main
objectives
of this evaluation are:
to
determine
to what extent the
objectives
, as defined in the proposal
s
, have been achieved as of the date of the evaluation, and to
determine
the possibility of achieving them upon completion of the
program;
to
identify
findings, results,
difficulties, risks, implementation challenges, conditions for success,
learnings,
and provide recommendations to improve the program. Beyond the scope of the current program, the evaluation report and recommendations might support
NESsT
,
ISE
and in
its other ongoing and potential future program
s
in
Europe
;
Summarize evaluation
learning
s
to guide
NESsT
for
good practices.
Timeline:
Release of the * Terms of Reference :
June12th, 2025.
Deadline to
submit
written questions:
June
22th
, 2025
Answers to questions/clarifications:
June 30th, 2025
Deadline to
submit
proposalswith detailed budget
:
July
15
th, 2025
Assignment of commission (estimated):
August
,
2025Proposalsmust be submitted through NESsT Bamboo system and contain:
Budget (detailed)
Timeline
References
Resume of the evaluators team
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