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How three global organisations are measuring impact

In season three episode three of our Reimagining Government podcast, co-hosts Adrian Brown and Pravallika Valiveti discuss impact. They highlight:

  • What impact means to different people
  • How organisations are measuring impact around the globe
  • The role legacy should play in measuring impact
  • And more

The episode features Zazie Tolmer (​​Evaluation Practitioner & Director at CoIntent ApS) and Andera Delfyna (Learning & Innovation Expert at Light for the World) to talk about their experiences with impact measurement.

Quote from Zazie Tolmer: "Its takes a system to change a system. So where do you start?"

In this article, we’ll explore how CoIntent ApS, Light for the World, and ourselves here at the Centre for Public Impact measure impact, as highlighted in the episode.

Here’s how three global organisations are measuring the impact of their work, as highlighted in season three, episode three of Reimagining Government.

CoIntent ApS

CoIntent ApS is a business consultancy firm specialising in focused, developmental, and goal-free approaches to evaluation. The team uses evaluation tools and techniques, including Theory of Change, to support impactful change efforts. During the episode, we spoke to Zazie about measuring impact. She said:

“The first thing we should all do is write down what we mean by ‘impact’, as well as what the implications and assumptions are. Because people often jump in and start to do impact evaluations without laying out the implications of the term.”

“The second thing is to really challenge the term, given how we’ve described and understood it. Is this what we want to be using when evaluating the merit and worth of what we’re doing? Is it just about impact? If yes, are you thinking about impact only as what it is at the end of the chain? Or, are you thinking about it with more complexity and with different layers?”

“Lastly, I’d encourage people to separate the terms ‘impact’ and ‘measure’. What can be measured is not that many things, and the way we’re often framing that, we’re saying we care about this outcome for people. We’re taking an indicator, which is a tiny slice of that outcome, and we’re trying to measure some contribution to it. And then we’re making all of these assumptions about the value of that.”

“The other thing about impact measuring is data reporting. When you report things, are you really reporting ‘impact’ or are you just reporting that you’ve been really busy? That’s what it sounds like sometimes. If someone reports how much less waste we’ve produced, for example, we’ve still got no idea of how much waste we’ve actually produced.”

“So, how are we using these measurements? What kind of judgments are we making? What are we trying to insinuate? I think a lot of that isn’t unpacked enough and we’re just going over the cliff when we use these terms.”

Centre for Public Impact

Adrian and Pravallika then speak about how here at the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), we incorporate a lot of the ideas laid out by Zazie to measure the impact of our work. Adrian started:

“We try to incorporate a lot of these ideas into our work at CPI. And Pravallika’s been a huge part of the conversation over the last year as we’ve thought about how things connect with an impact story.”
Pravallika added:

“Absolutely. That’s what we’re trying to do within CPI. What I am dealing with now is step two. So, what does it really take for us to define ‘impact’ as a team? Who needs to be a part of this conversation? How would the conversation pan out if a few people or stakeholders are missing? It’s a very emotionally-heavy conversation. It’s not as logical as metrics. Acknowledging from the beginning what ‘impact’ means to us is not easy. We’ve spent hours looking at the different dimensions of ‘impact’.”

Adrian added:

“Yeah. You’ve helped us have those difficult conversations and to be willing to step into a less comfortable space, where we’re asking about the impact we’re having as an organisation and the impact of the work we’re doing with partners around the world. It isn’t easy at all, and I would go as far as to say that if you are in an organisation that’s finding impact easy, you may be missing something important. So if it’s a very straightforward conversation you’re having, perhaps that’s a warning sign.”

Light for the World

Light for the World is a global development organisation that believes an inclusive society is better for all. Over the last 30+ years, they’ve contributed to improving health systems, enabling education for all, and amplifying the voices of people with disabilities. Andera explains how they measure impact, saying:

“Impact is much more than a box-ticking exercise. It’s the impression a project makes on the participants. I look at impact as legacy. What is the legacy of us as organisations? What’s the legacy of us as programming? What are we leaving behind with our target communities?”

“If I look at impact in relation to legacy, it becomes beyond meeting donor requirements. It becomes beyond executing a programme. How can we utilise our unique position as a programme? Each programme has that – whether it’s financial or human resource, the expertise you have on board, or the partners you get to work with.”

“So in our programming, we’ve been really intentional about programme participants being not just at the receiving end of interventions, but part of determining what those interventions are. I feel that in traditional approaches to programme design, we tend to take away a lot of voice and agency from participants. We decide what you need and what will really benefit you. And then you report back and tell us how great we are. But at Light for the World, we’ve been intentional about involving the people we intend to directly impact. We’ve done that quite successfully and we’ve continued to see how we can expand and really cement that as the way to go.”

“Allowing participants to have a voice in projects has a profound effect on their enthusiasm when reflecting on the work. It’s about them feeling their voice matters and that they have a say in what their life becomes.”

The full conversation about impact measurement is available now on all major podcast listening platforms.

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