skills for impact - charlotte hanson

Charlotte Hanson, South West Forum

and Social Value

South West Impact HubAccess to Quality, Expert, Independent support:– Advice– Training– Consultancy

Proving Our Value Project5 longitudinal case studies to measure impact of SPOs Incl. impact of Skills and Learning in Okehampton – Exeter University & Community Council of Devon

“the broad or longer-term effects of a project or organisation’s work (also referred to as the difference it makes). This can include effects on people who are direct users of a project or organisation’s work, effects on those who are not direct users, or effects on a wider field such as government policy.” Inspiring Impact: The Code of Good Impact Practice

Definitions

(C) Copyrighted 12/4/11

More Definitions...

“Any change resulting from an activity, project, or organisation. It includes intended as well as unintended effects, negative as well as positive, and long-term as well as short-term.” (NCVO 2010)

Why measure impact?

• Improved programme management• More effective planning• More effective evaluation• Increased understanding of the impact of your

work • Stronger communication of the value of your

work to ‘the people that matter’• Enhanced attention to the social, economic and

environmental value created by your business or organisation

(Source: NEF)

Whose Value is it anyway?

“It’s not enough to show that you did something. You have to show that what you did is better than anything else you could have done. We want to find out what works.” Peter Wanless, BLF CEO

Impact Practice Spectrum

Measuring outcomes on a shoe-string

“Gold-standard” impact assessment and valorisation

Some Other Resources1. Frameworks• Social Accounting and Audit - www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk• Social Return on Investment www.thesroinetwork.org 2. Briefings and guides• New Economics Foundation (NEF) - www.proveandimprove.org/• Charities Evaluation Services - www.ces-vol.org.uk• The Guild – Getting Started in Social Impact measurement• The WikiVOIS Database – indicators and proxies

http://www.wikivois.org/index.php?title=Special:RunQuery/Browse_Indicators

• NPC – various including Outcomes Map: Employment & Training – http://www.thinknpc.org/

3. Impact Programmes - Inspiring Impact Programme –www.Inspiringimpact.org – tools, documents etc.Proving Our Value – www.southwestforum.org.uk/provingourvalue

4. Training – South West Impact Hub – www.southwestforum.org.uk

Charlotte’s Key Pointers• Be clear about your outcomes• Involve your stakeholders• Work with your commissioners / investors• Communicate - Know your audience• Collaborate• Seek Help

“We’re more interested in people telling stories about how their lives have changed as a result of what we’ve done. The difficulty with a lot of impact is that it finds it hard to deal with narrative”Dawn Austwick, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation