Why funders keep on about your outcomes

It used to be alright to tell a funder that you provided an activity or service; it was good; people turned up for it and liked it; you delivered it again and they came back. However, over the last 20 years there has been a shift and this sort of reporting is no longer sufficient, certainly not for the larger funders. The expectation now is that charities and other non-profits also demonstrate the difference their activity makes – the outcomes.

The key benefits for charities of adopting an outcomes approach are listed on the Charity Evaluation Service website as:

• helps to concentrate on achieving your aims
• helps to deliver services more effectively
• makes services more client focused and needs led
• an improved sense of purpose and shared clarity
• a structure and focus to client/worker interaction
• encourages staff and clients
• success in fundraising

Funders will want to fund just such charities with a clear purpose, a focus on clients and using outcomes data to make decisions about service delivery. But it should not just be the case that funders ask charities to take an outcomes approach. They also need to do so themselves.

Funders have been affected by the same trends. It used to be that we reported on the number of grants awarded and the value of the grants given. Now funders too are expected to measure the difference they make through the work they fund – their impact.

And the benefits for funders are really not so different. An outcomes approach also helps funders to focus on their aims and encourages staff to work together and celebrate successes. It also helps with effectiveness e.g. when informing resource allocation. Funders may also need to influence external agencies and supporters to keep giving the money or to press for policy changes and outcomes evidence supports this activity.

So, when you can report that, for example, 34% of the young offenders supported by your training programme went on to get a job, that’s a clear benefit for those young people. Knowing that outcome is also good for your organisation, for example, it means you can see if a change to the programme improves the success rate. And this outcome data is good for the funder too – for example, when comparing the effectiveness of different models and so only funding those likely to make the most difference. This shift from 'people turned up and liked it' to an outcomes approach means we can all be more focused and effective.

 

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