Published before February 2009
It’s no longer enough for charities to simply tell the world what a good job they’re doing – nowadays they have to prove it and they must be both accountable and effective.
But how do you prove your charity’s making a difference? How can your charity’s impact be quantified and communicated? What are the consequences for failing in this vital task?
These are just some of the questions tackled at a recent CharityComms conference about measuring impact and communicating results.
The conference, which took place in central London on 22nd January 2009, was attended by over 120 people. It contained a mixture of plenary and workshop sessions.
The conference was opened by Chair of CharityComms, Joe Saxton, who introduced the first speaker of the day – Martin Brookes, Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital (NPC).
Martin Brookes, New Philanthropy Capital
In his speech Brookes made the case for why measuring impact is so important. In particular he made the connection between fundraising and impact. He pointed to research from The Economic and Social Research Council which shows that when donors can’t see the impact of their giving they are more inclined to lapse. He said: “Loss of faith is something that charities can ill afford at this time.”
He also argued that NPC doesn’t see enough evidence of impact measurement from UK charities. Whilst Brookes acknowledged this was often down to a lack of resources, he urged charity communicators to change this situation. He said:
“Charity communications and fundraising staff have not historically been good at talking and teaching about impact...Yet communications teams are the channel through which donors hear about charities...Communications teams need to drive the results agenda... by gaining internal buy-in.”
During Brookes’ Q&A session Kat Arney from CRUK wanted to know how research charities (that often see less immediate results than other types of charities) can demonstrate impact. Brookes said: “It’s pretty difficult to demonstrate the impact of social science research precisely but you can tell stories, and blend these with numbers and you can claim contributions rather than attributions.”
Brookes finished his session saying: “I want to be part of solutions to social problems, and I suspect that’s true of most people who work in charities. But it’s in your gift as communications professionals to change the dialogue you have with donors through the dialogue you have within your organisations and the way that you allocate resources to focus on results and impact. And I think if you can do that you’ll convert a lot more sceptics.”
Toolkits for measuring impact
Toolkits and guidelines for measuring impact were offered in workshop sessions throughout the day from: the Impact Coalition, NCVO, the Triangle Partnership and the Charities Evaluation Services. To see presentations including these CLICK HERE.
Joss Saunders, Oxfam
There were also ‘how we did it’ case studies showing delegates how other organisations measure and communicate impact. During the afternoon session Oxfam’s Joss Saunders spoke about accountability and transparency. Given that Oxfam is one of the largest charities in the UK - delegates were staggered to learn its accountability reports are written by Saunders in his spare time!
Saunders continued with this honest approach – admitting that Oxfam had made mistakes and that it still had things to improve on. One of the most interesting topics addressed was whether charities should report on embarrassing issues such as fraud and sexual exploitation – a question to which Saunders gave a resounding yes!
One of the main messages I took from this session was that the process of writing accountability reports is far more important that who actually reads them at the end - because when an organisation holds itself to account so publicly it drives change. To read more about this CLICK HERE.
Tips for your social impact assessments
In the final session of the day Robert Longley-Cook shared WRVS’s new and successful Social Impact Assessment methodology. Here are 10 top tips for creating your own social impact assessment – taken from WRVS’s session:
- Ensure that the purposes of the assessment are clear
- Consult stakeholders as part of the assessment
- Use self-assessment as a tool
- Use a combination of qualitative and quantitative research
- Be careful about attribution/claiming credit
- Do solid analysis and communicate results effectively to the right audiences
- Align with financial reporting: show a link between spend and impact
- Do not allow measurement imperatives to distort services
- Benchmark performance against others in the sector