Ugh...long-term impacts

Ugh do I have to think about those pesky long-term impacts…

You know those long-term impacts you’re trying to work towards??The ones that you love to talk about as part of your ‘big picture’ vision??Why is it that 90% of your impact measurement and management (IMM) isn’t looking at them?

You focus on capturing data on the easier to measure outcomes and a few short-term impacts, then jump to concluding that your work is delivering against that longer-term impact because it’s working in the short-term.

I applaud the fact that you’re measuring your impact at all in some form.?But it’s time for us all to face up to the fact that our data collection is most likely not as good as it could be.

The data collection tends to go wrong when you have to decide what you’ll track and measure.?You’ve got a long list of outcomes and impacts.?They look fantastic.?You then automatically assume capturing data on long-term impacts will be difficult or impossible because it involves following up with people or tracking change in the environment or communities for potentially several years to really understand how you’re contributing to change.

But this is the exact moment when you need to dive in.?Commit to the long game and decide you’re willing to look at the longer-term consequences of your activities.?I think as a sector we shy away from this.?Why though? Maybe because you don’t think you’ll be in existence in 10 years’ time.?Maybe because you think it’s too big a burden for your clients to be asked for information every year when they’ve probably moved on with their lives.?Maybe you just can’t be bothered.?Or maybe, and this is the big one, you fear that your impact is not really long-term and if you tracked it you’d find out that a lot of your outcomes and impacts are only sustained for a short time period.?

Let’s do away with all those fears right now.?What if I told you there’s magic on the other side of this??When you do bother you find out some amazing stuff.?You start to see where things are going right and where they’re going wrong – and identify what is truly causing that to happen rather than assuming what the connections are.?You’ll get to see where your organisation’s brilliance is.?But you’ve got to be serious about doing this as it’s going to take a while to have the data to evidence your long-term impact.?As the saying goes, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.’ It’s also true of measuring long-term impacts:

‘The best time to start measuring your long-term impact was 20 years ago.?The second best time is today.’

Setting targets or not?

Imagine you’ve set an impact target, announced it to the world and then failed.?Isn’t that really bad?

Yes and No.

Yes, because you’ve not achieved your target.

No, because it’s highly likely that although you didn’t achieve your target you tried to.?And in trying to achieve it you’ve achieved a lot more than organisations and businesses that don’t set any impact targets at all.

You have a choice – decide on a target and commit to trying to hit it or hope that you’ll achieve some impact anyway.

It’s much like following a recipe or simply throwing everything together in a tin, chucking it in the oven and hoping it will come out perfect.?If you follow the recipe you’ve got more chance of success (although I’ve been having a bit of a baking blip recently and everything has been a bit of a disaster).

What’s happening?

Impact Help

Do you want to get help with your impact measurement, management and reporting??Would you love to access my know-how and solve your impact issues??You can book an Impact Check In with me which is a quick and easy way to get help, lasting one hour.?After the session you’ll get a summary with key actions for you to implement.?Book here.

New blog

I’ve written a blog for Responsible Finance on how community development finance institutions (CDFIs) can push the boundaries of impact measurement to move from effective to compelling.?It’s now available, along with a link to the White Paper CDFI Impact Measurement and Reporting: Challenges and Solutions.

New Masterclass for May! ??

Ayo Abbas , owner of Abbas Marketing is one of Make an Impact CIC 's board members and a built environment marketing consultant. She has 22 years’ experience working in B2B marketing and has worked for major firms including Arup, Mace and Ramboll.

In this masterclass, Ayo Abbas shares her expertise on establishing relationships with corporates and fellow social enterprises for partnerships, collaborations, sales & marketing, and networking. This masterclass will cover how to find and connect with corporate decision-makers, how to find the right events and conferences and how to leverage social media.

??25th May 2023

? 12:30pm BST

The masterclass will take place via Zoom and attendees will receive a link to join at registration.

New to the Make an Impact membership? You can join and access this and a range of other masterclasses here.

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