Impact and evaluation

Demonstrating the impact your organisation has is an increasingly important part of fundraising applications, and can also help you fine-tune your service based on robust evidence of what works. Sharpening your awareness of the value of impact and evaluation can help you deliver better services, plan more soundly and get your staff behind you with better morale and increased productivity.

Measuring Up is a free step-by-step assessment tool from Inspiring Impact enabling you to evidence the difference your organisation makes.

Impact Reporting is a cloud-based tool that provides a quick and easy way of reporting social impact.

The Impact and Insight Toolkit is available from the Arts Council. It’s specifically designed to help organisations understand how well their work intentions align with the experience of their peers and the public.

Once you have gathered impact data this resource from the NPC can show you how best to communicate your story.

The Impact Support website. More than 100 charities and social enterprises shared their ideas for tools to collect, analyse and present data. A wealth of resources will also help you understand what is and isn’t working and what to do about it.

This guidance from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations will not only help you choose your data collection methods but also show the most effective ways of using your findings.

Starting to Measure your Impact. This paper is part of a programme that aims to make impact and measurement the norm for community organisations by 2022.

Reports and publications

Staying on top of sector developments will not only enhance your knowledge and strengthen  your organisational strategy, it will also increase your chances of successful project delivery.

Stronger Charities for a Stronger Society is a publication from the House of Lords considering issues related to the sustainability of charities and the challenges of charity governance.

The Future of Giving. This report from Barclays gives key trends in giving for the UK’s charity sector.

Commissioner Perspectives on Working with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector was commissioned by the Department of Health to show how local authorities chose to engage with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

Whatever next? Public Engagement in 2022 provides insight into how charities can continue to successfully engage supporters in a fast-changing world.

Governance

Good governance supports both compliance with the law and with relevant regulations so it pays to put time and effort into making sure your governance is up-to-date, thorough and effective.

The Charity Governance Code is a practical accessible tool to help both charities and their trustees develop high standards of governance.

The Resource Centre provides guidance for any not-for-profit group looking for information on choosing a legal structure.

All organisations need policies and procedures to guide their day-to-day activities and governance. Small Charity Support has a comprehensive range of templates including becoming a trustee, large legacies & donations and a reserves policy.

Be clear on what is required of a charity trustee with this comprehensive guidance from The Charity Commission.

If you are setting up a charity you will need to follow these six key steps as outlined by the Government’s step-by-step guide to setting up a charity.

Social Enterprise UK takes you through the essentials of setting up a social enterprise.

Bid writing

It’s of no surprise that increasing competition for funds has led to funders turning down proposals for projects they once would have accepted. However, there are a number of ways to ensure your proposal has the best possible chance of success. Research, a compelling argument, as well as clear evidence there’s a need for your project will go a long way to elevating your proposal, particularly if you can show your organisation to be credible and capable of success.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) offers a free and practical guide to writing funding applications.

The Resource Centre provides general guidelines for funding applications as well as how to write a letter of application and how to complete an application form.

The Directory of Social Change gives its 5 top tips for proposal writing.

Give yourself a winning chance with Writing Successful Bids a low-cost introductory course from the School for Social Entrepreneurs aimed at people who would like to learn some of the core principles for writing successful grant and funding applications.