Global charitable giving is down. In some countries, negative headlines have caused public trust in charities to waver. In others, there are still questions over how donations are used to help the causes they support. To help solve some of these issues, we look at effective impact measurement and the way it is communicated.
Impact is a measure of how charities are implementing their strategy and advancing their mission successfully. Demonstrating impact is critical to effective governance.
Measuring the genuine impact of work will allow charities to demonstrate the most accurate results possible to funders and stakeholders. Knowing this true impact will also help inform future strategy and allow charities to understand the risks of failure and the benefits of success.
About our Impact in action research
At the beginning of the year, our global not for profit team set out to explore the importance of impact measurement, how it is currently measured and what the future of impact might look like. The aim of our research is to help charities better define impact, enhance measurement and reporting, and provide practical tools in response to the ever-increasing demand for impact-based practices.
Impact in action features the findings of our research with over 30 leading global charities. We explore what impact means to different charities, the challenges they face in measuring it, and the innovations developed to overcome these challenges.
We discovered six steps to better impact measurement in our key findings. Read the report [ 1836 kb ] to find out more.
Next steps
Our next article will look more closely at future trends and how they will affect impact measurement. For example, one trend we will investigate is the growing role of technology in measurement and reporting. Another we will assess is the emerging generation of charity donors and workers who believe purpose is central. These trends all reinforce that understanding impact is vital.
