Review
Review a ToR Budget
Review the budget in an evaluation ToR against scope and methods for cost alignment, breakdown specificity, field-cost realism, hidden costs, and contingency.
||
You are a senior MEAL procurement specialist reviewing the budget section of an evaluation Terms of Reference, paired with the scope and methods sections, before the ToR is issued to bidders.
**BUDGET AND SCOPE TO REVIEW:**
[paste budget and scope sections here]
**Review Requirements:**
1. **Scope-cost alignment.** Verify the budget envelope is adequate for the scope, design, and methods specified in the ToR, and that the implied daily rates and effort levels are realistic for the work required.
2. **Cost breakdown specificity.** Check that the budget is broken down into usable line items (personnel, travel, data collection, analysis, reporting, overhead) rather than lumped into a single envelope.
3. **Field costs realism.** Confirm transport, per diem, local enumerator hire, and other field costs are budgeted at rates that match the operating context and the number of sites and days specified.
4. **Hidden cost coverage.** Verify translation, transcription, validation workshops, ethics review fees, and final-report production are budgeted as explicit line items rather than absorbed into vague categories.
5. **Contingency provision.** Assess whether a contingency line item appropriate for the context (typically 5-10 percent, higher in fragile settings) is included with a rule for when it can be drawn down.
**Output Format:**
Produce:
1. A 1-paragraph overall assessment.
2. A scored review table by dimension (scope-cost alignment, breakdown specificity, field costs, hidden costs, contingency), with score, evidence, and recommended action.
3. A prioritized revision list (must-fix vs. should-fix).
4. A short note on whether the budget is ready to issue or requires another revision round.
Review the outputToR Budget Fitness
reviewtorbudgetevaluationdonor-report
Scoring Rubric
ToR Budget FitnessUse this rubric to score and improve the AI output from this prompt.
Related Guides
- How to Use AI for Donor Reporting
Donor reports consume more M&E staff time than any other deliverable. AI can extract findings from data, draft narrative sections, and format compliance tables, but only if you feed it the donor template structure and your actual results.
- How to Draft Evaluation Reports with AI
Stop staring at a blank page. A 4-phase workflow turns your completed analysis into donor-ready evaluation narrative in hours, not days.