REPORTING IMPACT
What is measuring and reporting impact?
How you measure and show the impact of your work/organization/project.
Helps to demonstrate a need (case for support)
Helps you show how well you deliver.
Can be used as evidence for funding bids.
- Take responsibility for impact and encourage others
- Focus on purpose
- Involve others
- Use appropriate methods and resources
- Consider the full range of the difference you make
- Be honest and open
- Be willing to change and act on what you find
- Actively share your impact plans, methods, findings and learning
Choosing what to measure
Prioritise what outcomes you will measure
what are most important?
what are most impactful?
what do the funders want to know about?
Choose your outcome indicators
What signs will there be that you are delivering?
Select your measurement tools
How can you measure it? Things to count? Surveys? Etc
Impact Triangle
An impact triangle can be a great way to start to figure out the impact that you have made
Outcome | What will you see/hear? |
1. Improved health and wellbeing
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2. Improved skills and knowledge with which to overcome the challenges in their lives
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3. People will have the opportunity to help tackle issues in their community through volunteering |
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GETTING DATA/EVIDENCE
How do you currently collect information about how and what you are delivering? Some examples could be:
Surveys
Focus groups
Evaluation forms
Conversations
Attendance lists
Testimonials
Top tips for collecting information
- Be proportionate – collect enough but not too much
- Collect both qualitative (anecdotal) and quantitative(numbers based) data
- Involve people
- Leave room for unexpected outcomes to emerge including any negative or unintended outcomes
If you’re struggling to get data, change how you collect it.
- Make sure data is in a format you can analyse, e.g. Excel.
- Clean your data. Remove blanks, duplicates, errors and ensure responses are in the right number format.
- Decide what statistics to use. E.g frequency, proportion, ratings, averages.
- Decide how to present it e.g. table, bar chart, pie chart, line graph.
- Read your data carefully and look for common themes, e.g. same issue, similar words or phrases about a topic.
- Think critically about your data. What are the patterns, themes or trends emerging, and why do you think that is the case?
- Use quotes to illustrate the points and range of opinions
- Don’t just cherry pick the nice comments
Communicating Impact
Who to tell:
People involved in your project – clients, staff, volunteers, partners
Trustees/management committee
People in the community not involved in project
Funders/donors/supporters
Other similar projects locally or in other areas
People working in similar ways
Other people working in the same community
Local, regional and national government
Think beyond the report!
Video
Images
Data visualization: charts, mapping, infographics
Animations
Webinars/showcase opportunities
Choose and develop a framework that works for you, your partners and beneficiaries.
Remember change doesn’t happen in isolation.
Collect and report on both qualitative and quantitative data.
Involve others in the process when developing and implementing your methods.
Keep your purpose and audience in mind – be ruthless about what you collect and why.
Be creative about how you present your impact findings.