Impact measurement and the systems change approach

Lucinda Rouse and Emily Harle are joined by Elliot Trevithick, principal consultant for charities evaluation and learning at the think tank NPC, and Annie Hinton, senior programme design manager at the youth support charity Right to Succeed.

Elliot explains how being one step removed from a charity’s service users can present difficulties when it comes to evaluating programmes that work to change the systems surrounding social problems, rather than directly addressing their symptoms.

He stresses the importance of a theory of change as a foundation to measure systemic changes during the course of a programme’s life.

Annie outlines the challenges of evaluating Right to Succeed’s programmes, which support communities to give their children and young people the best possible start in life. 

She describes some of the tools used to monitor the charity’s work, including a shared measurement framework and a bespoke theory of change for each programme.

They share their thoughts on how funders can best support systems change programmes.

Do you have stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better thanks to your charity? If so, we’d like to hear them! All it takes is a short voice message to be featured on this podcast. Email lucinda.rouse@haymarket.com for further information.

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