MEASURING IMPACT HUB

As the centre of leadership for pro bono, the Centre has created this Measuring Impact Hub to equip all members of the pro bono community with tools and resources to measure the impact of pro bono work that is undertaken.

This hub contains useful links to materials about 1) Evaluation Tools and 2) Theory of Change. 

Evaluation Tools can be used alongside a Theory of Change to help track its progress or as a standalone method to measure and evaluate the organisations activities. There are lots of different types of evaluation tools, learn more about them below.

A Theory of Change is an organisation’s road map for its work. This evolving and practical model starts by identifying the need the organisation is trying to address and then maps backwards to the organisation’s plans to address this need through its activities. Learn more about Theory of Change below.

Organisations looking to create individual evaluation tools to help measure and evaluate their work might choose to start by looking through this section of our hub.

These tools help track progress against the Theory of Change. Evaluation tools can also be used independently of whether an organisation or project has a Theory of Change. They can be used as a standalone tool by pro bono providers to measure the effectiveness of a project or activity.

Why measure impact?

Measuring impact encourages organisations to engage with the question: How can we design and deliver our activities so that they have the greatest positive impact on our stakeholders? Engaging with this question can help an organisation pinpoint the areas where they have been successful in achieving their aims, as well as uncover where improvement is needed. This can lead to greater accountability and an increase in an organisation’s effectiveness.

There are lots of different types of evaluation tools and this section of the Hub equips you with practical examples of how members of the pro bono ecosystem have used evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of their work.

Evaluation Hubs

• Better Evaluation Hub
• UTS Social Impact Toolbox
• Community Sustainability Engagement: Evaluation Toolbox
• Alliance for Justice: Evaluating Advocacy
• Australian Evaluation Society Resources
• Good Data Institute

Example Evaluation Tools

• CLC QLD: Measuring the impacts of community legal centres
• FCLC VIC: Outcomes Measurement Framework
• DLA Piper: Evaluating pro bono: practical examples
• Justice Connect: Impact reports
• King & Wood Mallesons: Impact Report

Other Resources

• Australian Pro Bono Centre: The Australian Pro Bono Manual, chapter 1.13 Evaluation
• Australian Pro Bono Centre: The Australian Pro Bono Manual, Evaluation Templates
• Law Access: Impact Report 2019
• Sparke Strategy Webinar: How to powerfully demonstrate your impact: Using Theory of Change and alignment to the SDGs (Note: begins at 2:31)
• Social Ventures Australia: A guide to social impact measurement
• Co-developing a pro bono outcomes framework: A synthesis
• Centre for Social Impact / UNSW: Roadmap to social impact: Your step-by-step guide to planning, measuring and communicating social impact
• Amplify Online: Tool designed for not for profits to measure their social impact 

Organisations looking to create an overarching road map for their work might choose to start by looking through this section of our hub.

A Theory of Change is a process and a product that articulates an organisation’s theory of how it’s activities are causing the change it is seeking to address. It is the road map for its work and outlines:

• who are the organisation’s key stakeholders (stakeholders),
• how what an organisation does (it’s key activities/outputs),
• leads to the short and long term changes it wants (outcomes) and
• impacts the need an organisation is trying to address (desired social impact).

It helps to clarify the aims and strategies of the organisation, the assumptions being made and whether the methods used are the most effective way to achieve the desired aims and can be supported by evidence.

Why Develop a ‘Theory of Change’?

A Theory of Change enables an organisation to articulate and scrutinise what it is they do and why, what they are trying to achieve, and how their strategies will get them there. A Theory of Change should evolve and improve as evidence and observation shapes the knowledge and understanding of an organisation and its impact. It ensures that organisations are achieving the best possible outcomes for the people they aim to serve or issues they wish to address.

Theory of Change Resources

• Australian Institute of Family Studies: Program logic for planning and evaluation
• Emma Pritchard: Evaluation and Program Logic
• Innovation Network: Theory of Change and Evaluation Planning
• KWM Community Impact – Theory of Change
• PIAC: Homeless Persons’ Legal Service Theory of Change and Impact Measurement
• PIAC: Homeless Persons’ Legal Service Visualised Theory of Change
• Social Ventures Australia: The Golden Thread methodology
• Sparke Strategy Webinar: How to powerfully demonstrate your impact: Using Theory of Change and alignment to the SDGs (Note: begins at 2:31)