Making impact measurement
meaningful
Pippa Robson
North Bank Forum
© Pippa Robson, NBF
What is impact?
•
•
•
•
•
Outcome-Based Accountability
Social Return on Investment
Theory of Change
Social Audit and Accounting
Turning the curve…
Systems, frameworks and concepts that are
concerned with change
Pippa Robson @NBF (Hull Funding Advice
Service)
Reporting impact
A 2011 report by the Charity Finance Directors’ Group looked at
how the third sector reports impact.
It defined impact as:
‘the broader or longer-term change resulting from… activities’
(Breckell et al, 2011)
Of the 75 charities surveyed, only 8% were able to report on their
impact.
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
How about you…?
A survey of the websites of the 36 organisations that booked onto a previous
workshop showed:
3% 0%
Website but no impact reporting
6%
6%
Testimonials
41%
12%
No website/website down
Multiple
Mention achievements
Annual reports
15%
Case studies
17%
Impact report
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Why bother?
Trustees
Volunteers
Partners
Beneficiaries
Staff
Funders
Donors
Customers
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Recognising, measuring and
communicating
• What are you trying to demonstrate?
• What information do you need to have in
order to demonstrate it?
• Does it stand up?
• Who will care?
• How will you communicate what you
know?
Pippa Robson @NBF (Hull Funding Advice
Service)
Data is unavoidable
• Outputs – numbers recorded on registers, databases,
spreadsheets, booking forms. You can record attendees,
hours spent supporting, volunteer hours, young people
into work, training sessions delivered, food parcels
distributed – the list is endless and this is why you must
know what you want to demonstrate and for whom
• Outcomes – self-reports, case studies, questionnaires,
bespoke tools (Outcomes Star, SOUL Record etc.),
observations, indirect evidence (for example a service
user signing up as a volunteer indicates increased
confidence), photos, videos, testimonials and thank you
letters, follow-ups
Pippa Robson @NBF (Hull Funding Advice
Service)
Measuring and evaluating
Described as an international collective programme,
with online impact resources that help charity sector
organisations to know what to measure, and how.
Features a self-assessment impact tool called
Measuring Up. Supported by NPC, CES and NCVO
CES is now part of NCVO. Long history in evaluation
methods and consultancy. Evaluation is a key stage in
demonstrating impact – CES offer guidance on costing
evaluations
New Philanthropy Capital use a Theory of Change
approach to help charities work through what they are
trying to achieve – if you are not clear about this then it
will be much harder to measure your impact
HACT is the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust, but
their in-depth work on calculating social value is
applicable across the sector
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Putting a value on social impact
There has been a drive over recent years to place a
financial value on the work charities and social
businesses do. Methods usually involve looking at two
things:
The downstream savings, or ‘savings to the public purse’
created by a project (if we didn’t help x people to stop
misusing drugs, it would cost the government x in
healthcare costs)
Attaching a financial value to a less tangible outcome,
like reduced isolation (what do people pay to feel socially
included?)
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Social Return on Investment
Social Return on Investment is a method of measuring value that is not
traditionally reflected in an organisation’s financial accounts. The SROI
Network was formed in 2006 and has standardised the processes
undertaken to calculate this value.
Undertaking a full SROI analysis is time-consuming, expensive and
complex.
It looks at:
• Stakeholders – full mapping
• Outcomes – detailed examination of the difference you make
• Valuations – attaching a financial value to the differences you identify
• Attribution – how different interventions have contributed to outcome
• Deadweight - how many people would have ‘got better anyway’ etc.
• Drop-off – how the impact you make diminishes over time
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Challenges and issues
• It can be hard to show the impact of very short-term
projects, one-day events or ‘audience’ projects like theatre
sessions
• Gathering evidence about your impact may highlight that
you have not made the difference you originally thought –
can be positive or negative
• Knowing how far to go in claiming outcomes – if NBF
helps a group to get funding, are all the outcomes
stemming from that funded project part of our impact?
• Longer-term impact can only be measured if you are still
in contact with a proportion of your beneficiaries –
although you can use data to your advantage (e.g. studies
show…)
Pippa Robson @NBF (Hull Funding Advice
Service)
Example projects
http://www.nowproject.co.uk/sites/default/files/IMPACT_CARD_INFOGRAPHIC.pdf
http://greenerleith.org.uk/our-impact
http://simononthestreets.co.uk/about-homeless-support-charity/why-we-aredifferent/
http://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/Resources/Pact/Document/impactreport201213v4small.pdf
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Useful links and resources
The Global Value Exchange http://www.globalvaluexchange.org/valuations/
Charities Evaluation Service http://www.ces-vol.org.uk/
NCVO blog with list of good examples http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2013/11/12/small-charitiesbig-impact/
New Philanthropy Capital http://www.thinknpc.org/our-work/our-services/measuringimpact-2/
Know How Non Profit http://knowhownonprofit.org/organisation/quality/mande/evaluatingoutcomes-and-impact
Inspiring Impact website and code of good practice http://inspiringimpact.org/
http://inspiringimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Code-of-Good-ImpactPractice.pdf?Downloadchecked=true
Social Return on Investment Network http://www.thesroinetwork.org/
HACT http://www.hact.org.uk/measuring-social-impact-community-investment-guideusing-wellbeing-valuation-approach
http://www.hact.org.uk/value-calculator
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)
Useful links and resources
Report: Impact Reporting in the UK Charity Sector (Breckell et al, 2011)
http://www.cfg.org.uk/resources/~/media/Files/Resources/Impact%20Reporting%20in%20
the%20UK%20Charity%20Sector.ashx
Report: Principles into Practice – How charities and social enterprises communicate
impact:
http://www.cfg.org.uk/resources/~/media/Files/Resources/CFDG%20Publications/CFG%2
0Impact%20Report%20hi-res%20final.pdf
Examples of impact reports
Crisis Impact Report:
http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/about_us/2014/ImpactReport_2014_FINAL_web-2.pdf
ABF The Soldiers’ Charity: http://www.soldierscharity.org/uploads/corporate-files/impactreport-1314.pdf
Missing People:
http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/files/Impact%20reports,%20accounts,%20trustee%20re
ports/Missing%20People%20Impact%20Report%202013-14.pdf
Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity (video): http://rainbowtrust.org.uk/ourimpact?gclid=CJvrlbbkrMUCFVTLtAodYg0AHQ
© Pippa Robson, NBF (Hull Funding Advice Service)