IMPACT MANAGEMENT SUPPORT
BUILDING PROCESSES AND CULTURE FOR A STRONGER FOCUS ON IMPACT
We work together with you to produce an impact management manual for your organisation. The manual sets out the rationale and process for how your organisation collects and uses its impact data.
It usually takes around 4-12 weeks to produce the manual, based on a series of workshops and training sessions with your team, as well as desk-work from our consultants. A typical project involves some or all of the following stages:
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Introductory training session for your team: Impact management – what, why and how?
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Theory of change workshops: a series of two or three workshops ideally involving a range of staff as well as others including Board, volunteers, clients, and partners. We will also conduct desk research to map out the evidence and assumption underlying your theory of change.
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Developing a set of measurement indicators and data collection tools: working together with key members of your team to identify and agree a relevant approach to data collection.
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Data collection planning workshop: agreeing on a feasible plan for who within your team will collect your data; running through good practice principles for how to collect the data.
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Reporting schedules and templates: working with relevant members of your team to ensure you have clear and agreed schedules and templates for internal and external reporting.
CASE STUDY: OUR BETTER WORLD
Our Better World (OBW) is a digital storytelling platform operated by the Singapore International Foundation. OBW “tells stories of people doing good in Asia to inspire our online community to take action, so that the subjects of our stories get the help they need to impact more lives”.
OBW has grown impressively since it was launched in 2012. By 2017, it had succeeded in building an online storytelling platform that reached millions across Asia with its inspiring videos, photo essays and articles. But OBW’s passionate and talented team were not yet satisfied: it was time to take things to an even greater level. Amidst overall plans for scaling up, OBW called in Just Cause to help “make our impact framework razor sharp”.
Over a 12 week period, we worked with OBW’s team to produce an impact measurement manual. The manual includes:
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A 'theory of change' diagram, together with a written explanation of how OBW’s activities aim to achieve its target outcomes and longer-term impact.
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A list of activities and outcomes that OBW will measure on an ongoing basis, including relevant quantitative and/or qualitative indicators to track each one.
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An overview of the data collection tools (such as survey forms) that OBW will use to collect the agreed indicators.
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An annual timeline for data collection, review and reporting.
The process of developing the manual involved two workshops with the full team, plus a series of working sessions with key staff members. We also coordinated with two other research partners to consult a range of external stakeholders to better inform the theory of change.
As a result, Our Better World has been able to sharpen its strategies and put in place an impact measurement framework.
“The comprehensive approach from the Just Cause team helped us to set in place a way to measure our impact more effectively, which was critical as we scaled up.”
Rebecca Lim, Head, Our Better World, Singapore International Foundation.
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