1. A framework for demonstrating impact – how do we know community action makes a difference? Sheila Durie The SROI Network

2. How do we demonstrate outcomes at the moment? Name the methods or tools that have been used by you in the room How successful have these methods been in demonstrating impact How successful has measuring impact been in changing decisions?

3. Start with principles – the theory of change Theory of change – the basis of demonstrating impact Shows the impact of a project/programme or intervention by: – making outcomes for different stakeholders explicit – understanding the relationship between short, medium and longer term outcomes – Showing why we believe the activities create these outcomes

4. An example – for planning new activity or evaluating existing activity Domestic violence is a problem we want to tackle or we want to better describe how our programme makes an impact Identify what underlying causes can lead to the problem e.g. one might be that young people have been conditioned to think that domestic violence is acceptable and therefore they have not developed the awareness that they should avoid violence in a relationship Identify the intervention that could change this e.g. educational activity within the community that changed attitudes Intermediate outcomes might be: Increased awareness; change in attitudes towards domestic violence; more skills to help people avoid violent feelings or behaviour The longer term outcome is: Reduced domestic violence across a whole community

5. How do we know we have a good theory of change? The quality of a theory of change is judged by some key criteria: We can measure it (find indicators of change) It is meaningful It can deal with complexity without becoming useless Can we see a chain of cause and effect between intermediate outcomes and the longer term goal? Can we find published research that supports our theory of change?

6. Negative brainstorming Or, how not to demonstrate impact In groups, list what you would do in order to show that your organisation does not make any impact at all – what would you do? E.g. Don’t speak to any of your stakeholders

7. Some issues that may have come out of negative brainstorming Being clear about why you are trying to demonstrate impact or who you are trying to influence, so you can pick an appropriate method Do planning and analysis before collecting data to make the best use of resources and time Measuring the right things – i.e. outcomes not activity Embed and use results to improve practice