In the world of social organisations, impact assessment is a recurring theme. Impact assessments are required in award applications and project funding. One would be tempted to think that we would find many impact assessment reports online, proudly hanging on the websites of the respective organisations. Well, no.
Try it. Put into a search engine "Impact evaluation report" in Portuguese. You may be luckier than me, or in the time between my writing and your reading, organisations may have already considered that if they are done and done well, impact evaluations should be shared - to provide evidence of what they do and to help others see the relevance of doing it. But the information certainly exists, it's just not within reach of a click or two on the internet. In English the result is expressive, and it also contains companies, not only social organisations.
"if they are done and done well, impact evaluations should be shared - to provide evidence of what they do and to help others see the relevance of doing it."
In my research I found a very interesting example. Not only in terms of the evaluation itself, but the way it is being communicated at the moment. It is from Associação Dignitude and its ABEM Programme. The impact assessment was carried out with beneficiaries in terms of health, social inclusion and quality of life, and with other stakeholders. Indirect impacts were also assessed, in terms of reducing expenditure associated with non-compliance with therapy, territorial cohesion and reducing expenditure associated with emergency episodes and hospitalisations.
Let us therefore move on to answer the question posed in the title.
First, let us settle on a definition of impact. I have seen so many different ones, but I do not see the point in proliferation. I like the EVPA definition: impact is the attribution of long-term change to the organisation's activity. I think it is useful to think in terms of a logic model (recognising the flaw of this model to convey an image of linearity that social problems do not have) and to distinguish what is monitoring performance - the activities and outputs (or results), from what is assessing impact (the outcomes or effects and the impact on the system). To understand the difference well, we can, for example, consider No Poupar está o Ganho, the financial literacy programme for children and young people of the Dr. António Cupertino de Miranda Foundation. In one of their communications in 2021, this one on the impact study they contracted, they report that they covered 17,233 children and young people in the three-year period under review (an output) and that 22.87% of them improved their grade in Maths in that period (an outcome). Also, through a quasi-experimental study, it was shown that 62.23% of children from a representative sample significantly improved their Financial Literacy Skills (another outcome), compared to control groups (who did not participate in the project) in which no changes occurred. These outcomes are evidence of impact and with this methodology it is possible to have clear evidence of the contribution of the Programme to solving the problem. There is also evidence of impact at the household level, and we should also consider the Foundation's contribution to the National Plan for Financial Education and to the Core Competencies for Financial Education for Pre-School Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education and Adult Training as impact at the system level.
The illustrations of impact in these two examples make it clear that they are relevant as arguments to investors or donors. But is that all? Certainly not.
Indeed, evidence of impact gives us material to communicate externally, in funding applications, in annual reports, on social media, enhancing reputation. But internally, for the organisation, measuring impact and using the results for management purposes is essential. It allows to improve practices, making projects more effective from the beginning because it helps to realise what is being achieved with the work, and facilitates learning, also from mistakes. If it allows you to increase effectiveness, managing for impact ensures that you are better fulfilling your mission. Finally, it also helps to motivate employees and thus strengthen internal cohesion. And today, with so many challenges in attracting and retaining people, this issue is as important as ever.
Share your Impact Assessment Report with us. Send it to contacte@deforafora.com. Or, alternatively, write about what you've learned from developing this report. We'll be there, giving you visibility.
