Sharing our research: challenges and new approaches at the Big Lottery Fund Sally Taylor (Evidence Unit) David Taylor (Evidence Unit)

Big Lottery Fund What we do —Distributes 40% of National Lottery good causes money —Our mission: Bringing improvements to communities and people in need —£6 billion since 2004, 13,000 awards last year —Multiple, large scale programmes of activity —UK and international

What we do The Evidence Unit Ensure evidence is at the heart of what we do

What we’re commissioning Sustained change is our aspiration Moved from A, to B, to C programme evaluation thematic evaluation programme evaluation +

Programme evaluation + Robust Responsive Relevant

Robust —Why do we want ‘more robust’ methods? —What are ‘more robust’ methods anyway? —What evidence do we think we’ll get?

Responsive —Striving to influence practice —Formative approach now taken in our contracts —Supporting communities of interest; peer to peer learning —Common data frameworks and tools (e.g. Well being)

Relevant —Timing —Policy relevance —Practical relevance —Widening evidence base (What Works centres)

Spotlight on... Well-being 5 year programme, with added 2 years Holistic definition of well-being Capturing impact across huge range of projects

Our challenges Keeping a focus on our mission Commissioning appropriate methodologies Sharing the evidence effectively Remaining aware of pressures on grant holders

Further information Big Lottery Fund research The Alliance for Useful Evidence What counts as good evidence? (Nutley et al, 2012) Inspiring Impact inspiringimpact.org The Third Sector Knowledge Portal CAYT Impact study repository