Build in-house skills and systems to measure impact with purpose
Social Impact Measurement
for Change-Makers
At its core, social impact measurement is about understanding whether your work is effectively contributing to the change you seek to create.
Struggling with impact measurement? You are not alone:
Out of 700+ organisations across the not-for-profit sector in Australia and New Zealand, only
100%
said their data is easy to understand and use
100%
agree their data is used effectively to guide decisions and improvement
100%
believe their systems enable understanding of the outcomes and impact of their services
*The Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector Report (2024)
Building blocks of effective social impact measurement
Let us guide you through the whole process, or give us a shout to help with specific parts
Theory of change (ToC)
A Theory of Change is a clear framework that defines your organisation’s purpose, the pathways for achieving change, and the outcomes you aim to drive. Think of it as a map to guide your change journey. As any good map, it changes as you learn.
Why it matters
It clarifies your purpose, links your activities to outcomes, and highlights your contribution to broader systemic change.
How we can help:
Through a series of workshops we will work with teams and stakeholders to design and validate a ToC that feels real, meaningful and ready to help your people drive change.
Outcomes framework
An outcomes framework translates your Theory of Change into a practical tool, defining key outcomes, sub-outcomes, and measurable indicators to track your progress.
Why it matters
It builds on your Theory of Change by turning pathways for change into measurable milestones. Outcomes are directly linked with the design of your service and the insights can be used to improve it, as well as to report to stakeholders.
How we can help:
Following the creation of your Theory of Change, or if you already have one, we’ll work with your team and stakeholders to develop and validate an outcomes framework that aligns with your purpose and activities. Through collaborative design, we’ll define outcomes and metrics, ensuring the framework is practical, sustainable, and ready to integrate into your mahi.
Measurement Plan
A measurement plan outlines how you will collect, analyse, and use data to track progress against the outcomes defined in your framework.
Why it matters
It operationalises your outcomes framework, providing a clear roadmap for gathering meaningful data. This ensures you can monitor your outcomes, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate the value of your work to stakeholders.
How we can help:
Building on your outcomes framework, we’ll help you create a practical measurement plan aligned to your resources and needs. We will find the moments and methods to collect data that flow with your mahi and align with the needs of your team and communities.
Learning and Improvement
Learning and improvement is the process of using insights to refine your programmes and enhance their effectiveness.
Why it matters
It turns data into action, ensuring your work evolves to meet the needs of your communities. Periodic checkpoints for reflection and learning allow you to identify what’s working, address challenges, challenge assumptions and continuously improve the effectiveness of your mahi.
How we can help:
We’ll help you establish regular checkpoints and processes for analysing data, develop reflective templates for your team to use and, when needed, help you generate insights, creating a structured process for reflection and improvement.
When reporting to funders and stakeholders, we bring together data from multiple sources to convey the learnings and impact of the work over a specific period.
Good Reporting combines quantitative and narrative data to tell an authentic story of your progress and impact. With the right systems in place, reporting becomes a straightforward process of aligning insights to show stakeholders what you are learning and how your work drives meaningful change.
How we can help:
We’ll support you in designing a reporting process that integrates data from your measurement systems and turns it into a compelling, authentic narrative.
Thinking of going through an Social Return on Investment (SROI) assessment?
We can help you do the ground work to get SROI- ready: clarify your impact goals, map out your outcomes, strengthen your data collection processes, and ensure you have the right evidence in place to demonstrate the value of your work meaningfully.
Why work with us?
We believe that measuring the outcomes of your mahi is a means, not an end. The data you collect from the people and communities you support should make your work, and their lives, better. From this standpoint, we will help you share your results and your learnings with funders and stakeholders to bring them along as your organisation learns and grows.
We are not your typical evaluation consultants. While we can help with effective reporting, our focus is in working with your team to develop capability and systems to measure and improve your outcomes as you go, and understand your impact over time. Come reporting season, having robust data systems makes it straightforward and meaningful.