Measuring Social Outcomes and Impact

Knowing & showing that we’re making a real difference

Story Competition

Proudly Presented by

Today, 25 South Australians hear the words “you have cancer” spoken into their lives for the very first time. Tomorrow another 25 and the day after that and the day after that. Everyday. So how can we, an organization dedicated to the fight to beat cancer, mobilize the community to make a real difference in this space?

How can we move people beyond fundraising and toward impact. Real, significant impact. Meet our volunteer Ambassadors. Ambassadors are regular people from all walks of life. They are school teachers and factory workers, CEOs and school students, Mums with young kids and retired people. They live in the city and in the country. In fact the only thing common to our network of over 170 Ambassadors is the common passion they share to make an impact in the fight against cancer. And that’s what they do. Ambassadors partner with Cancer Council SA, taking action to defeat cancer in their homes, workplaces, schools, universities, sporting clubs - in fact, everywhere. And they take all kinds of action: representing Cancer Council SA at community events, leading volunteer teams and projects, promoting and championing fundraising events, communicating cancer prevention messages, generating awareness of support services within the local community.

What makes our Ambassador Project so exciting is that Cancer Council SA doesn’t tell Ambassadors what to do, rather we empower them to make an impact in their own context in ways that work for them. And as we take the risk of “letting go” and allowing the community to take their own initiative we are seeing impact made in ways we never imagined.

By the time the Measuring Social Outcomes and Impacts Conference comes around a small army of professional painters will be descending on Cancer Council Lodge to repaint every room – a gift from Dulux. This project was initiated by Stephen, an Ambassador, who by day is a professional painter himself. Stephen’s passion and hard work will send impact ripples through the lives of literally hundreds of people impacted by cancer and their carers who stay at the Lodge: making their stay just that little bit more comfortable and their cancer treatment that little bit more bearable.

Stephen is just one example of many. Ambassadors will attend hundreds of fundraising events to say “thank you” to donors and supporters. The impact: thousands of people will understand the real impact their donations are making in the fight to beat cancer.

These are direct impacts on the lives of thousands of people in our local communities that would never happen without the mobilization of our Ambassadors. Our role: the connect, equip, resource and empower these brilliant, passionate people and then to stand back and watch them roll up their sleeves in their local contexts and make an impact in the fight to beat cancer: life by life, workplace by workplace, community by community. We can’t wait to see what happens next.

Researched by

Competition Winner