Being able to show the impact of the work your community group is doing is vital in order to make the case to decision makers and funders that your work is worth supporting and investing in. If you want to change something or influence a decision, you will also need to be able to make as strong a case as possible using the best evidence at your disposal. This section contains resources on measuring impact and using evidence.

Live to learn

Evaluation can help you to measure your impact, reflect on your work and improve it. Although evaluation can seem like a daunting prospect on top of the everyday (or evening!) running of a community group. However, there are plenty of helpful introductory guides to evaluation, many of which we have collected on the Communities Channel.

Where’s the evidence?

Gathering and using evidence helps you to evaluate your work properly. It also enables you to demostrate your impact, and/or make a case for change, to funders, commisioners and decision makers. Browse our list of different tools and approaches to using evidence.

Making the case

Every group would like to be listened to, and taken seriously, by public agencies and elected members when it comes to issues that affect them. The Communities Channel highlights useful sources of information to help with increasing influence.

Communities in the spotlight

See below for examples of groups using the above methods to show what they do, or make their case, as effectively as possible.

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GAINing ground – planning and evaluating with young people in Lewis.
GAINing ground – planning and evaluating with young people in Lewis.

This case study shows how GAIN, a community organisation working with young people in the Isle of Lewis, evaluates its work to demonstrate impact and improve future provision. It should prove a useful resource introducing community organisations to evaluation and community engagement.

Healthy Valleys' healthy evaluation!
Healthy Valleys' healthy evaluation!

South Lanarkshire based community-led health organisation, Healthy Valleys, successfully implemented an evaluation method called Family Impact Star to gather evidence of the impact of their Grassroots Project, supporting pregnant women and families with children under five years old.

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