Impact Reporting

I have just been reading a summary of key points in Debra Allcock Tyler’s speech to the Directory of Social Change’s Charity Accountants’ Online Conference.

I have heard Debra speak on numerous occasions: she is always worth listening to because she talks common sense and she doesn’t mince her words. On this occasion her target was the requirement for a charity to report on “impact” in the new Charities’ Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).

It may be possible for some charities to report on their impact, but for many – Debra cited churches and youth clubs as examples – this represents trivial and time-consuming tick-boxing.

More worrying, although DSC took the trouble to respond to the SORP public consultation, hardly any of its recommendations were taken on board.

The small charities that Minerva has always worked with deliver impact – because, if they didn’t, the public, their beneficiaries and their funders would no longer support them.

I recall some years ago organising 2 visit days at a small charity for trust funders which had supported it. The funders’ representatives met staff, volunteers and beneficiaries in a relaxed and informal setting – and had the opportunity to see projects and view equipment items that they had funded. All these funders understood the impact their grants had made because they were able to see first hand what their money has been spent on and talk personally to those who were benefitting. They didn’t need questionnaires or surveys to be convinced!

In the 6 weeks following these 2 visit days, the charity received over £7,000 in additional, unsolicited grants from the funders.

Now that’s the effect of real impact.