Four people sit around a table in a bright office, smiling and talking. Papers, sticky notes, and a laptop are spread out in front of them, suggesting a collaborative meeting or brainstorming session.

Measure and
communicate
your impact

Practical support for VCSE organisations

Understand the difference your organisation
makes and learn how to communicate it clearly.

A practical place to begin

Build confidence in collecting and using evidence

Collecting data helps voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations understand, demonstrate and communicate the difference they make.

You do not need to become a data expert. Start with the questions that matter to your organisation, use methods that are realistic for your team and build your approach over time.

Understand what works
Learn which activities create meaningful change.
Make better decisions
Focus your time, funding and resources.
Tell a stronger story
Show clearly why your work matters.

Start simple and make it useful

“Collecting data helps voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations understand, demonstrate and communicate the difference they make.

You do not need to become a data expert. Start with the questions that matter to your organisation, use methods that are realistic for your team and build your approach over time.”

Community First Yorkshire impact guidance

Explore the five guides

A simple, repeatable process

Your impact journey

Plan
1
Decide what change you want to create and how you expect it to happen.
Do
2
Deliver your activities and collect relevant, useful evidence.
Check
3
Understand your data and identify what it tells you.
Act
4
Share your findings, improve your work and plan what happens next.

Previous Next

Work through the full journey or choose one task

Choose where to start

Guide 1

Plan your impact
Define the change you want to create, understand outputs and outcomes, and build a simple
Theory of Change.

Guide 2

Collect useful data
Choose practical ways to gather numbers, feedback, experiences, stories and other
useful evidence.

Guide 3

Understand your findings
Analyse your data, explore any trends or themes and combine numbers with people’s experiences.

Guide 4

Use national and local data
Find trusted datasets to understand local need and provide context for your organisation’s work.

Guide 5

Write and share your impact report
Turn your evidence into
a clear and engaging report for funders,
trustees, supporters and communities.

Not sure where to begin?

We need to clarify what change we want to create.

Start with planning

We know our aims but need to collect evidence.

Explore data collection methods

We have information but do not know what it means.

Understand your findings

We need local data to evidence the need for our work.

Use national and local datasets

We are ready to present our results.

Write an impact report

Plain English explanations

Quick jargon buster

Four useful terms that appear throughout the guides.

Outputs

The activities, services or resources you deliver that can be counted. This might include the number of sessions, events, resources or people supported.

Outcomes

The changes, benefits or improvements experienced by the communities or people you support as a result of your activities, services or resources.

Impact

The wider or longer-term difference you contribute towards, including lasting changes or outcomes experienced by people, communities or systems.

Data

The information you collect to help you understand your work. It can include numbers, stories, photos, drawings, quotes, observations and more.

Need some extra support?

Community First Yorkshire can help with impact planning, governance, funding, volunteering and other aspects of running a voluntary, community or social enterprise organisation.

Make an enquiry

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