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To help our partners increase their capacity, the Christopher Family Foundation hosted a grant proposal writing workshop in March. Carla Land, Program Associate, provided guidance on how to measure impact. Funders, whether private or public, are interested in the impact that their investment will have on people’s lives or on the environment. For this reason, many grant applications ask for a description of the impact, outcomes, or goals and objectives. We hope that this nuanced explanation of these terms will help you write more compelling proposals.

As you begin this process, ask yourself, “Why does our work matter?” “What does success look like?” “How will people’s lives be different because of our work?” Then you can craft an impact statement.

Impact is the broader, long-term change that the non-profit’s work produces.

Next, consider the outcomes, the short-term effects that the program produces within the grant period. What can you accomplish during the grant cycle?

Now you’re ready to set a goal. The goal is a general direction to achieve an outcome.

To accomplish your goal, you will need to take some specific, measurable actions, which are called objectives.

Here are examples of each:

Impact: More individuals in the Austin community will retain high-quality jobs, with family-sustaining wages, which fosters economic stability.

Outcome: Increase by 10% the number of individuals placed in jobs with hourly wages above $18.

Goal: Improve the effectiveness of job placement services to ensure participants obtain full-time employment upon program completion.

Objective: By December 31, 2025, the Employment Specialists will increase the number of employer partnerships to 25 (2024 Baseline: 20).

Writing SMART Objectives:

Some people insist that goals are measurable, hence the term “SMART goals”, while others see objectives as measurable. In this guide, we have chosen the latter.

Objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

 

 

 

Specific: Who will be served? What do you intend to impact?

Measurable: By how much will you show change over time? Where possible, use a measure (a number or a percent) to show movement toward the target.

Achievable: How will you use the available resources, knowledge, and time to accomplish this objective?

Relevant: Why is it important to measure this objective?

Time-Bound: When can you reasonably complete the objective?

Measuring impact is not only useful for funders, but also quite beneficial for non-profit organizations, as it can help them to gauge the effectiveness of their activities, communicate results and achievements, and facilitate continuous performance improvement.

Here is our guide on measuring impact. We hope this tool will help you to assess the impact of your work and use your learnings to further your mission.

—Contributed by Carla Land, Program Associate