Organisations have for some time reported financial results, but reporting the less tangible aspects of an organisation’s work and its impact upon beneficiaries is more problematic. Nevertheless, the idea is here to stay and several have produced clear and informative reports on their impact.
Impact reporting really gathered momentum in 2004, when the charity Commission published its guidance Hallmarks of an Effective Charity, which stated that “an effective charity considers the impact it that it wants to have and actually has on the people who benefit from it”.
The Impact Coalition, now housed within Acevo after spending its first years at the Institute of Fundraising, was set up in 2006 to improve accountability and transparency in the sector and considers itself the starting point for good impact reporting.
Nick O’Donohoe, chief executive of Big Society Capital, has said there needs to be better co-ordination between charities and social enterprises around impact measurement.
The Inspiring Impact Group, a coalition of voluntary sector bodies seeking to provide collective leadership on measuring impact over the next 10 years, is considering encouraging funders to allocate at least 5 per cent of funding to evaluation and measurement.
Strictly Come Dancing set smashing standards last year, and delivered results. Tesse Akpeki muses that the Strictly approach could be adopted by charities.
Charities Evaluation Services has today launched the 'jargonbusters' website to provide simple and clear definitions for unclear or technical language surrounding charity performance and evaluation.
Twelve organisations including New Philanthropy Capital, NCVO and Acevo, have come together to create the ‘inspiring impact’ group, which plans to provide collective leadership in the charity sector on impact measurement over the next decade.
The Social Impact Analysts Association is holding its inaugural meeting today amid calls for greater recognition of the importance of impact analysis and warnings that the progress of the practice and profession needs to be handled with great care.
Impact reporting: Answering the right questions
New principles for good impact reporting are based on six key questions. Tris Lumley explains.
The dangers of measuring impact
Paul Breckell warns about the dangers of over-reliance on social measurement.
Trends in impact reporting
Gareth Jones reviews developments in impact reporting, and the specific role that SROI can play.
Dan Corry - No easy rider
Dan Corry has just joined New Philanthropy Capital as CEO. He discusses his priorities with Vibeka Mair.
A nice piece of duck at the CFDG dinner, gets Ian Allsop chewing on the meaty subject of impact reporting.
Studies by New Philanthropy Capital and the Third Sector Research Centre have shown that impact reporting can raise the profile of voluntary organisations, including with the government.
Charity experts have said the sector needs to explore more ventures with the private sector, in a series of debates at the NCVO Trustee Conference 2011.
The director of an East London homelessness charity which has undertaken a social return on investment study which demonstrated a £5m annual saving to the British government, claims that the sector has been “hijacked by government consultants who are telling us we need this sort of thing”.
Gambling support charity GamCare has secured new funding from the gambling industry to run a national helpline and provide treatment services for gamblers and others affected by the problem.
VSO's new strategy: People First
VSO is cutting admin costs by a third, swallowing a 12 per cent drop in its core DfID grant over the next three years, yet still aiming for expansion. Tania Mason explains how.
Acceptance is growing of the idea of comparisons between organisations in the sector, says Tania Mason.
Pro Bono Economics, the charity set up by Martin Brookes to match volunteer economists with charities that want help to measure their outcomes, has worked with more than 25 charities since its inception three years ago and been approached by over 50.
The voluntary sector should be renamed the ‘not-for-dividend’ sector and the biggest charities should be ranked in an investors’ league table according to the value they create, Tomorrow’s People chief executive Baroness Stedman-Scott said at the Bank of England today.
An independent analysis of the economic value delivered by welfare-to-work charity Tomorrow’s People has estimated that for every pound spent by the charity, at least £2.40 worth of value is created for society.
Research published yesterday by nfpSynergy demonstrates the extent to which the public’s perception of charities is divorced from the reality.
New Philanthropy Capital has called on funders to pay charities to measure their impact, and is mooting setting up a consortium which would lobby government for access to statutory data in order to help the charity sector co-ordinate impact measurement.
Views, a new online platform which allows organisations to demonstrate the value and outcomes of their work has launched, with support from Acevo, Catch 22, Nesta, Social Investment Business and BT.
A social return on investment study looking at disability charity Whizz-Kidz has been cited by health secretary Andrew Lansley as “very clear evidence” of how the social enterprise model “does deliver”.
The Big Lottery Fund would be prepared to talk with the government about releasing statutory data which charities could use to compare, measure and price their impact, says Ceri Doyle, director of strategy, performance and learning at the Big Lottery Fund.
Any tax changes announced in Wednesday’s Budget will be accompanied by impact assessments which will, for the first time, include an appraisal of the effect of the changes on civil society organisations.
Lord Rennard, chair of the Acevo Commission on the Big Society, has advised that the Liberal Democrats are looking at the idea of a required voluntary sector impact assessment to be undertaken within any future legislative proposals.
Social impact analysts around the world now have their own professional organisation designed to promote dialogue about how best to measure charities’ impact and effectiveness.
Impact reporting: a review of current practice
Nicola Robert and Kate Harrison examine progress made on impact measurement and suggest future directions.
A report commissioned by the Charity Finance Directors' Group has highlighted the gap between the theory and practice of impact reporting in the UK charity sector.
