New Philanthropy Capital, CFDG and Acevo have launched a universal set of principles for impact reporting and are looking for feedback from chief executives, finance directors, fundraisers and grantmakers.

Seven organisations collaborated on The Principles of Good Impact Reporting consultation document which outlines what charities should communicate to engage with stakeholders and how to apply the principles.

The consultation closes in January 2012 and the organisations aim to launch an agreed set of principles with the support of both the Office for Civil Society and the Charity Commission in February.

Tris Lumley, head of development at NPC, said that storytelling was at the heart of engaging with supporters and the principles put forward in the consultation “can help charities to put impact at the heart of those stories”.

Jane Tully, head of policy and public affairs at CFDG, said: “With donors and funders placing greater demands on charities for accountability and demonstration of results, this set of principles provides charities with a framework to look at communicating impact in an appropriate and effective way.”

Director of strategy at Acevo, Seb Elsworth added that improving impact reporting “should prevent organisations from being judged unfairly and letting assessment be based on inputs which mean much less, things like administration costs or CEO pay”.

The organisations who contributed to the consultation report:

• New Philanthropy Capital
• Acevo, incorporating the Impact Coalition
• CFDG
• The Institute of Fundraising
• The SROI Network
• National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

Feedback on the principles should be sent to [email protected]