Bean Research’s very raison d’etre is to help organisations champion their social impact. So of course this article is going to talk why measuring the difference organisations are making is really important! But I wanted to focus on one really specific use of impact measurement and assessment in this post, namely the use of impact figures and stories in fundraising.
In recent years we’ve seen a shift in the reasons behind why charities and funders want to measure and evaluate their impact. For a long time the onus was on 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 what they were doing was working and 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 the bits that need some more work. These are the absolute fundamentals to evaluation, but interestingly we’ve seen a move towards recognising the undeniable 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 more recently.
The facts, stats and stories generated by impact measurement are invaluable for painting a picture of the difference a charity is making. Organisations are increasingly aware that impact measurement and evaluation are not siloed activities. The evidence and story-telling that are generated, more often than not, support 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 efforts.
In the period of financial pressure, donors (current and potential) want more than ever to be confident in where their money is going. Data from the U suggests that 67% of people want to know all the details of how not-for-profits are using their donations1 to ensure they don’t go to waste. Impact reporting is therefore a powerful tool to give people who are giving you money – or thinking about it – this confidence.
Impact reports are increasingly commonplace and can be shared with individual givers, major donors and those considering leaving a legacy or fundraising for the charity. Impact data is now indispensable in trust and foundation applications and provides essential context for corporate partnership development. So, impact data can be framed to engage a wide range of current and potential supporters and is a godsend to fundraisers and marcomms teams alike.
At Bean we have particular expertise working at the intersection between funders and funded organisations. Many funders see it as a responsibility to talk about and learn from their impact – as guided by the Association of Charitable Foundation’s ‘Stronger Foundations’ principles. So they need to ask some details of their grantees. Therefore trusts and foundation fundraising requires a particular focus on impact measurement, as charities have to show their approach to monitoring and evaluation in the vast majority of cases (the main exception being the trend towards trust-based and/or flexible funding, but even them some degree of demonstration of impact might be required). Theories of change, logic models, outcomes, indicators and how M&E data will be used are usually asked about in funding applications. So charities applying for grant funding need to have the answers to these questions at the ready.
So, while the team at Bean are naturally curious about the social value that our clients create, we will always explore the ‘𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁?’ and ’𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺?’ when considering what difference an evaluation or impact framework will make to an organisation, beyond the initial results. It’s essential to design these processes with the right audiences in mind.
Pleasingly – and perhaps unsurprisingly given what we’ve said – we are finding that fundraisers are increasingly involved in coordinating these early conversations about impact measurement across teams and, at smaller organisations, are often the ones driving impact measurement activities. Which is no mean feat given how busy the life of a fundraiser already is! But these approaches, facts and stats are increasingly essential for fundraisers to be able to do their job effectively.
Whilst not an easy or enviable task, the increased cross-team collaboration we are witnessing around galvanising the importance of effective measurement will make the ‘𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁’ even more worthwhile and productive for everyone across the organisation – and hopefully drive more funds to all the important causes out there making a significant difference.
