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Impact measuring raises profile of charities

Finance | Niki May Young | 18 Nov 2011

Studies by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) and the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) have shown that impact reporting can raise the profile of voluntary organisations, including with the government.

A TSRC report released today, which looks at what motivated organisations to measure their impact, finds that while meeting the expectations of funders and commissioners was the most powerful motivation, the need to build relationships, to compete for resources and to create an organisational brand and professional image were also key motivators, concluding that impact measurement “gives organisations power and influence”.

The latest research published by NPC on impact measurement finds that impact measurement can have a particularly positive impact on raising your organisation's profile.

Featuring six case studies of organisations which have undertaken impact measurement studies, 'A journey to greater impact' reports that all organisations found that their impact reports had raised their profile, with three advising that their evaluations had made them better known to government, and two saying they were better known to academics.

Andrew Cooper, research manager at the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, which featured in the report, said: "Because of the approach we've taken to sharing our findings, we've been a strong voice calling for other funders to be more open."

Other positive impacts include motivation of staff and improving services for beneficiaries.

Lynne Berry, chief executive of WRVS advised: “Before, we had no idea whether what we did was effective.

“There were some really positive results that emerged (from our impact report). 70 per cent of the older people we surveyed said our services had improved their lives a lot, and our services were really valued and trusted. But impact evaluation also helped us think about what we were doing that doesn’t achieve our mission.”

Impact measurement remains a challenge

But the study also agreed that impact measurement “remains a real challenge”.

“Many charities find it too difficult or too expensive to measure their impact, and they do not receive the encouragement that would allow them to put an impact measurement system in place,” the report advises. “The environment in which they work needs to be more supportive,” it said.

The report furthers previous calls made by NPC for funders to support the voluntary sector in impact reporting advising there are many ways funders could play a key role in promoting impact measurement in the voluntary sector. These include funding the cost of complex evaluations by external evaluators and rewarding voluntary sector organisations with strong evidence of impact through ‘impact grant programmes’.

Other suggestions made for funders to support the sector are introducing or improving measurement support for grantees and contributing to a knowledge sharing network to provide guidance for the sector.

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Directory: New Philanthropy Capital