The paper describes the experiences of the consortium with implementing a large multi-country evaluation of four programs. We take stock of what worked and what didn’t work when evaluating the outcomes of a diverse set of L&A strategies and activities, and assessing the effects of the capacity development efforts. We outline a number of lessons for future evaluations of L&A. In a final discussion section, we also reflect on what these findings could imply for future monitoring and evaluation efforts of advocacy programs – in terms of defining what counts as outcomes, how to do contribution analysis, and how to support learning.