3) How does it work?
- Guide for Demonstrating impact with storytelling http://www.ncg.org/s_ncg/bin.asp?CID=10969&DID=43474&DOC=FILE.PDF
This guide is designed to help you develop stories that show policymakers and other community leaders that the philanthropic sector is a partner in supporting local communities. We encourage you to use it as you begin to outline your strategies for communicating with external audiences
- Following comments from: http://socialenterprise.guardian.co.uk/social-enterprise-network/2012/dec/12/best-bits-measuring-demonstrating-impact
Measuring impact varies by organisation: Measuring impact is a good use of time and money, but different organisations need to do it in different ways, and one size does not fit all. The first question I ask social enterprises I consult for is why do you want to do it? Is it for internal performance measurement, to acquire funding, or to report impact to stakeholders?
Strategy for measuring impact: I think you have to ask yourself "what is the best I can do within the limits of what's manageable and affordable". Possible solutions include having a qualitative element to the study (for instance, focus groups with a sample of beneficiaries) and getting a sense of what other factors were having an impact on them from that and falling back on self attribution through questions. Again it depends what you're trying to show. If it's for proving an exact return that's probably insufficient. If it's to compare which areas you are having most impact on, how that changes year to year and so on – which for many organisations is already a lot more than they are doing – then it's still useful.
How best to present data to the target audiences: Simple graphs, key figures, anything visual. Our mistake last year was to go into far too much detail.
Avoid a one size fits all approach and consider:
a) what are an organisation's social objectives
b) what is it's objective in measuring its impact
c) how much resource can it commit to measurement.
Then work out a solution that fits. It can be rewarding and help you improve performance as well as being critical to survival for some.
GETTING STARTED This toolkit is designed to help your organization develop stories that demonstrate the powerful impact and unique value that your organization brings to UBC. To help you get started, here are some tips for how to develop a good story. http://www.ncg.org/s_ncg/bin.asp?CID=10969&DID=43474&DOC=FILE.PDF
A good story….
- Is short, easy to read and not too technical.
- Includes a beginning, middle and end.
- Introduces a specific problem in very basic terms and shows how that
problem was solved.
- Highlights the role your organization played in solving that problem.
- Shows an impact on people and places in the UBC community.
A good story isn’t….
- A detailed description of your organization and the issues that you support.
- A catalog of every grant your organization has ever made on a certain issue.
- A fact sheet on a specific topic or issue.
- Focused on new area or strategy that your organization has just started to
pursue unless you can point to concrete results and/or outcomes.
- About another part of the community. It needs to show impact at UBC.
BRAINSTORM YOUR STORY IDEAS List 4 potential story ideas below: 1. 2. 3. 4.
TELLING YOUR STORY CREATING THE OUTLINE Pick one of the ideas from your brainstorm. Answer the following questions to create an outline for your story. NOTE: If you are having trouble answering these questions, your idea might not be the best topic for a story. Try another one of the ideas on your brainstorm list.
- What was the problem?
- Why did your foundation decide to get involved?
- What role did your foundation play in solving this problem?
- What was the successful outcome?
TELLING YOUR STORY NOTE: See sample story at the end of this toolkit to illustrate how this template works to create a good, easy-to-read story that highlights philanthropy’s impact on people and places in northern California.
DRAFTING YOUR STORY Using the information in your outline as a guide, develop a rough draft of your story. Here’s a basic template that can help you organize the information.
I. INTRODUCTION.
- Set the stage for the reader.
- Describe the problem in basic terms.
II. INTRODUCE THE FOUNDATION.
- Who are you? Keep it brief.
- Why did your organization pick this problem?
III. TELL THE STORY.
- What happened?
- What role did the organization play in the story?
IIII. DESCRIBE THE OUTCOME.
- What were the results of your work?
- How did you solve the problem?
After you’ve developed your draft, add the following elements:
TITLE.
- Your story should have a short title that describes your impact on an issue.
QUOTE.
- To add a personal touch, you can include a short quote at the end of your
story from foundation staff , a grantee or someone involved in the story. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOUNDATION.
- Because there is only room for a brief description of your foundation in
the actual story, you can add a short paragraph describing who you are and what you do at the end.
TELLING YOUR STORY EDITING YOUR STORY Use the following checklist to edit and finalize your rough draft: Watch the length. Stories should be snapshots of what happened; not in-depth narratives. Try to keep your story to 700 words or less. Use a storytelling tone. Does it read like a story or more like a fact sheet or information guide? Try saying “once upon a time…” and then read the first sentence of your story. Work on keeping that tone throughout the story.
Simplify details and descriptions. Can you summarize or simplify sections? For example, instead of listing every meeting that happened, say “Through a series of meetings….”
Watch out for lingo. Use basic terms and avoid long acronyms and technical language.
Clarify the organization’s role. Is your role clear? If someone read this story, would they say, “Wow! I have a much better understanding of how departments are having impact on UBC faculty and students!” Highlight the solution. Is the outcome clear? Does your story have an ending?
SNAPSHOTS OF PHILANTHROPY SAMPLE STORY LANDS END, A NATIONAL PARK AT THE EDGE OF SAN FRANCISCO that is Restoring A Jewel in the Golden Gate
National Parks System SAN FRANCISCO TITLE: Short title that describes your impact part of the Golden Gate National Parks system, attracts more than one million visitors each year. Its trails and rocky coastline off er breathtaking 30-mile views stretching from the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands and Point Reyes to the Farallon Islands and Pacific Ocean. The area attracts many local visitors as well as out-of-town tourists because of its close proximity to a large residential neighborhood and easy access by public transportation. Unfortunately, by the late 1990s, the Lands End area had fallen into disrepair as a result of years of wear and tear, vandalism, landslides and overgrown vegetation, making it a dangerous and less attractive recreation destination.
I. INTRODUCTION: Sets the stage and describes the problem in simple terms At the same time, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, a private family foundation with a long history of supporting restoration projects in the Golden Gate National Parks System, was exploring new opportunities for improving local parks for the people of San Francisco.
II. INTRODUCE THE FOUNDATION: Explains why you got involved The Goldman Fund reached out to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy for help in identifying places where restoration eff orts could make a real impact. Lands End caught their attention. The project was attractive because the area was used by a diverse group of San Francisco residents, and the Parks Conservancy knew they could mobilize strong volunteer support from the community for the eff ort. In addition, the Goldman Fund knew that the Parks Conservancy had a strong track record of leveraging private philanthropic funds to increase federal funding for improving these parks. The two groups formed a partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and launched an eff ort in 2004 to restore and revitalize the trails, forests and native habitats at Lands End.
III. TELL THE STORY: What happened? Include the role of the foundation SNAPSHOTS OF PHILANTHROPY FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT: The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund www.goldmanfund.org The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy www.parksconservancy.org The National Park Service www.nps.gov/goga “Thanks to the support of the Goldman Fund and the tireless energy of volunteers in the community, Lands End is once more a treasured jewel in the Golden Gate National Parks system” —GREG MOORE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY Since then, the Goldman Fund has donated $8.6 million to this collaborative undertaking. The area has been transformed with paved parking areas, a new scenic overlook with benches THE RICHARD AND RHODA GOLDMAN FUND: Since its establishment in 1951 by San and safety walls, expanded trails, improved visitor amenities, and restored views of the ocean by trimming back trees and other growth. The restoration eff orts have also attracted robust community support through a volunteer program run by the Parks Conservancy and NPS called the Lands End Stewardship Program which has close to 900 community members working to take care of the park. Along the way, other organizations such as the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and the California Coastal Conservancy have off ered support to the project as well. In 2010, the project was honored with an award from San Francisco Beautiful for improving the quality of life in San Francisco. There is more work to underway to continue to enhance this special place, but the project has made huge steps towards restoring Lands End to a beautiful, safe recreation area for all to enjoy. IIII. DESCRIBE THE OUTCOME: How did the story end? QUOTE: From foundation staff , grantee, or someone else involved in story LINKS: For more information Francisco philanthropists and civic leaders Richard and Rhoda Goldman, the Goldman Fund has contributed more than a half-billion dollars to a variety of charitable causes in San Francisco, as well as nationally and internationally. The Fund supports programs that focus on improving the quality of life in the San Francisco Bay Area, the environment and Jewish aff airs.
- Demonstrating your impact with digital storytelling http://www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/digitalstorytelling
Here’s how your organisation can get started with digital storytelling and show the world in under 5 minutes what you do matters.
What is digital story-telling and why is it important?
Digital storytelling combines narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie or set of slides, typically with a strong emotional element, and is a powerful and low cost way for charities in these times of reduced funding to get their message across.
With many charities working hard to stay afloat, you might well feel you do not have time to spare for digital stories. Equally, you might wonder if your senior managers would support you spending time on what might be seen as non-core activity.
However, digital storytelling provides charities with a powerful way of demonstrating impact without the need for big budgets. Increasingly, charities are having to justify what they do, particularly the budget for communications work. For example, on 7th June 2011Paul Berstow MP, the Speaker of the House of Commons, questioned why the body that investigates MPs’ expenses is spending a ‘large amount of money on communications officers’.
Now, more than ever, comms professionals need to ‘show, not tell’, what their charities do to give their organisation the best chance of thriving in such challenging circumstances. The most direct way to deliver that is to hear about it from the people we support. If you are not convinced you have the resources to do it, be reassured by the examples of small charities like childsi and the Family Holiday Association . They have made great use of digital storytelling to raise awareness and funds.
Using Stories to Demonstrate Your Personal Brand http://onthejob.45things.com/2009/04/using-stories-to-demonstrate-your.php
- A story demonstrating your passion about your field.
- A story that shows your understanding and experience with your audience's needs.
- A story that demonstrates a pioneering idea you've developed.
- A story that shows how you fit in with the history of your field.
- A story that illustrates alliances and partnerships that support you.
http://www.demonstratingvalue.org/blogs/expressing-your-organizational-value-describing-value
"In recent years, funders and donors have increasingly emphasized evaluation and accountability in the organizations they support. Voluntary sector organizations have generally responded by undertaking organization, program and project evaluation activities. And while support has often been provided to assist organizations in their evaluation efforts, there has been little focus on conveying the stories that are behind the evaluations. Dissemination of evaluation results has often not been undertaken, not reached relevant audiences, or not been communicated in an appropriate or meaningful way. Yet the organizations have never had a shortage of compelling stories to draw upon – they have just not often used them or been expected to use them in their reports, evaluations and other communications." The Storied Organization: VSERP Communicating Value, Inviting Caring, Celebrating Success http://www.cfc-fcc.ca/doc/StorytellingDec2002.pdf
Describing Your Organizational Value
Describing your impact involves using words to demonstrate your value, and is often complemented with stories, quantitative information and monetized estimates of value. It includes both describing what you’re doing and why it makes a difference. Some important questions to answer when describing value include:
- What is the key information about the operating context for your enterprise that makes your work meaningful? If your enterprise’s story is in the foreground, what is in the background?
- How does your social enterprise meet a community need and contribute to social and environmental change? What is the extent of this change? The nature of this change? The nuances of this change? What are the goals and expectations of your social enterprise, and what is your progress towards them?
- How does your social enterprise add value when compared with a ‘standard’ enterprise relative to public or non-profit models that seeks to address similar social and/or environmental objectives?
- How has your social enterprise contributed to innovation in strategies to meet community needs, and create social and environmental change?
- How do you engage your audience when describing these details? By creating a compelling story!
Using Storytelling to Describe Organizational Value
Storytelling is an increasingly widespread tool for organizations to capture the hearts and minds of their different stakeholders. It can greatly enhance “information” – whether it’s in the form of numbers or factual information about your activities. Many charities and non-profits have found success sharing information via Facebook timeline, or through the creation of infographics. Once data is transformed into something visual, suddenly it becomes increasingly interesting and memorable.
A great example is this website from the http://www.cfc-fcc.ca/doc/StorytellingDec2002.pdf South East Vancouver neighbourhood of South Hill. It draws in the viewer through an interactive collection of personal narratives, enhancing the significant details of the neighbourhood. Thanks to Alexandra Tudose for sharing this great website with us!
Organizational narratives and aspects of change are often known by the people within your social enterprise. Storytelling can bring out this knowledge and communicate it in a compelling way to others, particularly for social change that is often complex and difficult to capture in other ways.
Investigating impact of conversations that spread from each story ... (from NY Times Cascade video conversation that we had - Amy)