Dozens of projects, one story of what your programme changes

Organisations we work with

What you get

• One logic for the whole programme

  A clear line from programme goals to the lines of work and projects, so everyone knows what they contribute to

• Monitoring across projects

  A small shared set of indicators and a simple routine, so projects report in the same way without extra burden

• Accountability beyond spending

  Reports for ministries, councils and funders that show outcomes, not only budgets, outputs and activities

• Learning while it runs

  Regular moments to see what works, so you can adjust the programme before the evaluation

• Ready for the evaluation

  Data and stories collected along the way, so the mid-term and final evaluation build on what you already have

Why we do what we do

Read the film as text

1. We all want to know
2. our place in the world.
3. Thin grey lines join dots into a web.
4. We like to believe that what we do is part of something larger.
5. It is.
6. Together we make our surroundings, our brands, our communities.
7. We shape the work of others, as they shape ours.
8. The web grows dense.
9. We live in one web of cause and consequence.
10. Each path tells a story, part of a larger narrative.
11. A system of meaning.
12. So what is our impact?
13. Whose lives do we touch?
14. What changed? For whom? How much? And what part was ours?
15. Intended or not, for better or worse.
16. Knowing that changes what you do next.
17. A dark line draws a path through the web. Impact management helps you see it, steer it, and use it.
18. A large word: Lead. A purple path runs through the web. Lead with purpose, and fund your mission.
19. A large word: Improve. A green path runs through the web. Learn what doesn’t work and design for better.
20. A large word: Engage. A blue-green path runs through the web. Share your story, and bring others into it.
21. A large word: Account. A blue path runs through the web. State your claim, and prove it.
22. A large word: Discover. A yellow path runs through the web. Find your next impact before it happens.
23. “How do you measure impact?”
24. It sounds hard.
25. It isn’t.
26. It’s not about the how.
27. It’s about
28. Portraits of people fill the screen.
29. A large word: Who.
30. About rights-holders, whose lives are touched.
31. And stakeholders, whose choices shape them.
32. The people stand side by side, at the same height. A wave of colour runs through the web. Every voice, every perspective, equally weighed.
33. The web turns many colours. Pluriform and equivalent.
34. Who determines what.
35. And what determines how.
36. That’s it. No more, no less.
37. We count what can be counted, and listen to the rest.
38. Coloured paths wind across the web. We find the stories that connect the dots, and make sense of the whole.
39. We love our craft:
40. to ask the questions,
41. to measure what matters,
42. and narrate what works.
43. One dark path remains. Let’s reveal your path.
44. The word narrate, with the line: impact in numbers and stories.

What we often hear

• “Our programme has big goals, but every project tells its own story.”

  We help you build one impact logic for the programme and link every line of work and project to it

• “Dozens of projects each report in their own way. I can’t see the programme as a whole.”

  We help you agree a lean set of shared indicators and templates, so project data adds up

• “Reporting to the ministry is mostly about money spent and meetings held.”

  We help you add a few outcome indicators and examples from practice, so reports show what changes

• “The evaluation comes at the end, when it’s too late to adjust.”

  We help you build in learning moments during the programme, so insight arrives while you can still use it

• “When the programme office closes, the knowledge leaves with us.”

  We help you plan from the start what remains: results, networks and lessons, and who takes them on

What you may be wondering

• Do all projects have to start measuring again?

  No. We agree a small shared set of indicators. Everything else projects measure stays as it is.

• The programme is already running. Is it too late?

  No. We write down the impact logic now and build in learning moments for the rest of the programme.

• What remains when the programme office closes?

  From the start we plan who takes over the results, networks and lessons. Then the knowledge doesn’t leave with the office.

To read

• Monitoring, evaluation, impact management: what is the difference?

  Three words that get mixed up. What they mean, when you need which, and why you can start small.

• Why slowing down first gets you there faster

  A pilot is under pressure to show results quickly. So measuring often starts too early and thinking too late. On slowing down as a way to speed up, and what the private sector already knows about it.