Impact round-up: October 2017
Welcome to the first in a new series of impact round-ups, produced by NCVO Charities Evaluation Services. We’ll be summarising the latest news in impact and evaluation, and sharing useful guides, resources and data collection tools.
Engage funders with evaluation findings
Tailoring findings, being honest about learning and making the most of your evidence are important when sharing evaluation findings with funders. Head of NCVO Charities Evaluation Services Sally Cupitt’s latest blog post has tips on using evaluation for fundraising. You can also read a case study on how the Campaign to End Loneliness, who Sally worked with, used their evaluation findings.
If you’re searching for funding, Funding Central provides access to thousands of grants, contracts and social investment opportunities.
Evaluation at NCVO: Feedback from our members
As part of our own evaluation at NCVO, we run an annual survey of our members and ask them how we’re doing. This year, members told us that we are heading in the right direction, have been most helpful when providing support around governance and volunteering, and are having a positive impact on public trust and confidence. We also got some useful insights around where we can better support our members: sustainability, communicating value and understanding a changing landscape. Read more about the results in a blog post by Megan Griffith Gray, head of planning, digital and communications at NCVO.
Sharing impact stories
NCVO’s Constructive Voices programme launched last year to highlight the positive impact of charities and social enterprises and encourage more constructive news coverage. Giselle Green leads the programme and shares some examples of stories covered by the media in her latest blog post.
New outcomes tools for children and young people facing serious illness
Triangle Consulting has launched two new versions of the Outcomes Star for organisations working with children and young people facing serious illness. Developed in collaboration with Clic Sargent, the Support Stars can be used with young people and with parents of younger children. Both versions are relevant for cancer and any serious acute or life-threatening illness. Find out more about the Stars.
Evaluating arts projects with people who have experienced homelessness
Streetwise Opera has published a guide (pdf, 1.3MB) on evaluating arts projects with people who have experienced homelessness. It’s an engaging account of how they planned and implemented their approach, including tips and guidance, and sharing the theory of change and monitoring tools they developed. The team at Streetwise Opera hope that the guide will help organisations working in arts, homelessness and other sectors to reflect on their monitoring and evaluation.
On the blogs
- The NSPCC has tips on how to involve children and families in evaluating services.
- NPC present five types of data for assessing your work.
- Social Value UK tell us about 10 years of social value.
Training and events
NCVO provides training and events covering a range of topics, from impact to governance and volunteer management. Here’s what’s coming up:
- Outcome and impact measurement (two-day course) – 28 and 29 November
- Outcome and impact measurement (one-day course) – 11 January
- Developing your theory of change – 18 January
- Collecting outcome and impact data – 13 February
- Better outcome and impact reporting – 22 February
- Data protection – a course to help you navigate the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) reforms: