Increasing the Capacity of Individuals, Families and Communities

Outcomes Measurement

Measuring Outcomes Overview | Logic Models and Program Theory

Getting Started

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Outcomes and Outcome Chains
Outcomes define what you want a program or service to accomplish. As an intermediary organization providing assistance to smaller FBOs and CBOs, your intended outcomes focus on the impacts or changes that the organizations experience as a result of your help. Here are some examples from the National Resource Center Guidance for CCF Sub-Award Assessment Plans (2003)⁶.

The faith or community-based organization has:

• Expanded and enhanced service delivery
• Increased fund development capabilities
• Increased fund development opportunities
• Increased financial management expertise
• Strengthened organizational structure
• Improved coordination and/or collaboration in service with others

Sometimes providers of technical assistance believe that outcomes only relate to an end-user (e.g., clients, individuals or families participating in a program provided by an organization with whom you are working). These are outcomes for the programs operated by the FBOs and CBOs, not for you as the organization providing technical assistance.

In this example, your client is the FBO or CBO and your outcomes relate to increasing that organization’s capacity. Here are two questions to help you think about this important point:

• Who is the recipient of the technical assistance and/or funding I am providing?
• What is the intended impact or change I want this assistance to produce?

Another trap many organizations fall into when identifying outcomes is to describe what they have done (i.e., the activities they carried out) rather than the impact of these activities on the client organization.

When you review your draft outcomes, ask yourself these two questions:

• Do they focus on my client (the organization) and not the client’s client (the individual, group, community, etc.)?
• Do they describe the intended changes for the client organization, not what I am doing to achieve that impact?

The table below provides sample outcomes for several of the types of technical assistance you may be providing through your intermediary. It is a good idea to determine your outcomes before you develop your program or as a part of program development. However, if you have an existing program, you may want to adapt these outcomes to fit the specific activities you provide.

Type of Assistance FBCO Outcomes Program Evaluation Increased ability to identify measurable outcomes Improved capacity to implement internal procedures to track outcomes Information Technology Increased understanding of the components of information technology Increased use of computer capacity to manage operations Board Development Improved understanding of board oversight role Increased stability of board

As you become familiar with outcomes, remember that you are not going to measure very many. You’ll want to pick a couple that are the most directly connected to the assistance you are providing.

"We try to get people to start measuring one outcome. If they get sold on it, they’ll do more. People who are really excited about it want to measure all their outcomes. We try to get them to start small and build on what they learn."

Faith in Action Initiative
United Way of Massachusetts Bay Initiative

Writing an outcome statement can take a number of forms — the more straightforward, the better. Here are two typical formats you might use:

Type of Change In What For Whom Increased ability to raise funds among FBCOs receiving training Who Will Change What FBCOs receiving training will increase their ability to raise funds

Using Outcome Chains
Outcome chains can help you organize your thinking about what you hope to achieve. They require you to put your program theory to work and articulate how your activities will bring about the impacts in the organizations with whom you are working. Outcome chains create a logical progression of the short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes that lead to your goals. The outcome framework depicted in the Measuring Outcomes Overview is an example of an outcome chain. Here is another example:

Training and Technical Assistance Lead to: Reactions: Feedback How useful was the assistance provided? (Was the client satisfied with the service?) Learning: Changes in knowledge or skill What gains were made in knowledge or skills? (Did the client learn from it?) Behavior: Changes in behavior How has their behavior changed? How have they applied their knowledge? (Did the client use it?) Result: Improvements in the organization What has changed for the organization as a result? (Did it produce return-on-investment for the client?) Goal Attainment: Achievement of organizational goals What results are evident in the community? (Did it benefit the community where the client was located?)

Sometimes organizations only measure the first level of outcome in the chain (in this case by getting feedback on customer satisfaction). At other times, they may measure outcomes at all levels. Your decision regarding the "length" of your outcome chain depends to some degree on the type of and the extent of the services you provided. If, for example, you sponsored a brief orientation about board development, you might only seek Reaction from the participants in the session (the first outcome in the chain). If, however, you provided a series of workshops on board development and people attended them all, you likely would measure Learning and Behavior (the next two levels on the outcome chain). If you also provided one-on-one technical assistance on board development, you might measure the Result in terms of what changed in the organization. You probably will decide not to measure Goal Attainment.

Outcome Chain Example
Technical assistance in needs assessment and planning with clients (FBCOs) and their communities leads to:

Increased understanding of steps involved in conducting a needs assessment
	Which leads to
			Improved ability to complete a needs assessment process
				Which leads to
						Improved understanding of community needs
							Which leads to
										Increased focus of program development activities on priority needs

Outcome Checklist Are the outcomes related to the "core business" of your program? Is it within your control to influence the outcomes? Are your outcomes realistic and attainable? Are your outcomes achievable within the funding and reporting periods? Are your outcomes written as change statements—will things increase, decrease or stay the same? Have you moved beyond client satisfaction in your outcomes? Is there a logical sequence among your short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes? Are there any big "leaps" in your outcomes (i.e., gaps in the progression of impacts)?

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Measuring Outcomes Overview | Logic Models and Program Theory