Taking steps to measure your social impact? If not, why not?
This month we reached out to previous attendees of our monthly Measuring Social Impact Masterclass to find out if they had implemented their learning, and how it had a made a difference to their organisation.
We had participants from large and small organisations attend our workshop to help them implement a theory of change model, new monitoring processes and a robust evaluation process.
Their motivations to take action are varied, but there is a general consensus that they all aim to assess the quality of their work and the satisfaction of beneficiaries, and provide transparency and evidence to stakeholders that they do achieve their intended impact.
Here is what three of the attendees told us…
A2Dominion is a residential property group with 35,000 homes across London and the South East, and thousands more in the development pipeline. It also provides affordable, private and social rented homes, student, key worker and temporary accommodation, as well as supported and sheltered housing.
With a unique approach to housebuilding, all of the profits the Group generates are reinvested into supporting its social purpose, helping it to deliver more affordable homes and services to customers.
A2Dominion is part of the g15, a group of the largest housing providers in London.
“Both Katie and myself took a lot from the training session that we attended and this has now changed the way our department conducts its project planning process.
Staff are now utilising the principles of the theory of change model as part of the project planning process, this in turn has enabled our coordinators to look at what outcomes their projects are looking to achieve. This in turn has resulted in our staff looking at and focusing more on monitoring outputs and how they result in outcomes. We are looking to embed theory of change and monitoring into the planning process next year which we will be commencing in October.”
Toby Mallowan, Community Investment Team Manager
Kentish Town Improvement Fund is a registered charity which provides support and funding for creative and innovative health and well-being initiatives and programmes in Kentish Town north London.
“We have managed to create theory of change and have begun collecting and collating more information on the impact of our work. We have not concentrated on getting more funding until later down the road, but attending the workshop was a wonderful start on our journey.”
Melissa Hardwick, Director of Kentish Town Improvement Fund
Putnoe Woods Pre-School is a charity-run preschool based in the Putnoe area of Bedford. They have been providing excellent early years care and education since 1981.
“The course helped me with creating better measures for change. Since the course we have secured two funding pots – one for volunteer recruitment and training to allow us to launch a programme called ‘Everyone a Reader’ which will provide us with the manpower to ensure every two year old is read to every day, improving their communication and social interaction skills. In addition, this will provide hands on experience for those wanting to return to work, and 1 for capital works, allowing us to offer more places. I have more applications awaiting panels, but it has improved my confidence and provided me with new information routes for evidence that we need funding.”
Ann Peace – Business & Finance Manager
our Company runs its Measuring Social impact Masterclass each month – click here to find out more and sign up. You can also contact us about our impact measurement consultancy services, if you are looking for one-to-one support.
You might also want to check out a new survey that is aiming to uncover attitudes and approaches to impact measurement amongst social ventures.
The Buzzacott Social Impact Survey promises to be the first in-depth investigation into the importance charities and social enterprises place on proving their effectiveness. The survey has been put together by a consortium of organisations committed to building the capacity and impact of the social sector including Buzzacott Chartered Accountants, The Good Economy Partnership and Matter&Co.
