Measuring Impact – Making a Difference Carol Candler – NRF Graeme Oram – Five Lamps
Welcome (back)
Outline What is Impact and why focusing on (social) impact matters Which approach –what to think about in choosing your approach –Some approaches Impact Measurement in practice – the Five Lamps experience Help and resources
Why we are all here Organisations – support for people to address social problems Foundations / Grant Makers / Funders – support for organisations that work with people to address with social problems Aim – to make a difference
MAKING SENSE OF IMPACT Inputs OutputsOutcomesImpacts Assessment Spending / Funding effectively Making a difference to individuals Making a difference to problems / communities Organisations Monitoring/Feedback Evaluation Small MediumLarge Increasing: Size/Cost - Scope - Innovation - Risk Projects
How our projects work
Why measuring (social) impact matters To know weve made a difference To know what difference weve made To show what difference weve made (contribution not attribution!)
Measuring what matters Knowing what success looks like Choosing the right approach Asking the right questions Getting feedback from the right people Producing simple, meaningful information Using the information well
Exercise – What does success look like? Write down in one sentence what your organisation / project is trying to achieve In 2s discuss –how you know you are making progress towards this –who you are sharing this information with
Deciding on your approach Questions / approach Information / evidence Decisions / changes Who / what are you planning to influence or change? What do you want / need to give them? How to best collect / present the information? Funders Managers / Staff Decision makers Numbers Case studies Quotes On-going One-off Internal / external
One size fits all? Different needs (planning / proving / improving) Different capacity (size and scope of organisation) Different capability (experience / support) Different audiences (commissioners / foundations) Different focus (individuals / communities / policies)
Approaches - Qualitative (Soft Measures Feedback analysis (ad hoc / structured) Case studies Outcomes Tools (Stars / Radars) Progress scales (Cyrenians Matrix) Intermediate Outcomes Measures (CEI)
Approaches – Quantitative (Numbers) Surveys Proxy measures / Wider impact measures (NPC) On-line tools SROI (NEF) Case Controlled Trials (CCTs) Population statistics
Approaches - Mixed Using Outcomes stars / radars to generate progress data Mixed method reporting (Output numbers / outcomes and impact narrative / case studies) Social Audit / Social Accounting
Graemes slides
Resources (examples/information/resources) (information / tools) (social return on investment guide) (wellbeing measures)
Final thoughts So what difference are we making? Measure what matters Keep it clear and simple (fewer, better) (Social) Impact work that is useful and used