Differentiating your organisation by its impact

As societal challenges grow, and government resources decline, there is increasing focus on the role of non-government and private sector organisations to tackle a wide range of social and environmental issues. At the same time there is a growing concern with ‘green-washing’ and ‘impact-washing’ — organisations seeking to gain commercial advantage by promoting their supposed ethical credentials. The charity sector is also under scrutiny in relation to the quality of its work and the value of services provided through donations.

Organisations need to differentiate themselves by delivering on their good intentions. The central question is what does it take to build organisations that are effective in creating the positive change in the world that society demands?

In this blog, I explore 5 building blocks for impact through the experience of 20 charities, social enterprises and impact-focused businesses in Sussex that I have supported through an ‘impact action-learning’ group over the past year.

Clarity of purpose and pathway to impact: The starting point is for organisations to be clear of their destination. What are the problems they seek to solve and what are the steps to reach their goals. At the heart of this is setting out a pathway to impact (commonly known as a Theory of Change).

A Theory of Change brings clarity to your organisation’s purpose and strategy. It helps you articulate the change you seek to achieve in the world and the steps needed to get there. By clearly defining your goals and pathways to success, you can align your team’s efforts and resources towards maximum impact.

“The process was so enlightening. It has allowed us to think about the link between the impact of our work and how it fits into the bigger picture of the problem we are working to solve, which is to reduce the digital divide. We’ve now reorganised our service offerings to align to the impact we want to achieve, improved our services by designing a set of building blocks to show our beneficiaries how to get to the impact quicker, which will also serve as a mechanism to track their progress over time.”

Delivering for impact: In a world filled with competing priorities and limited resources, a Theory of Change helps identify what it is you do and how you do it that truly matters. By identifying key drivers of impact and understanding the ripple effects of your actions, you can focus on managing the quality of key processes and strategically allocate your time, energy, and resources where they will make the biggest difference.

“Our staff now know where their work fits into the big picture and are able to reflect and come with suggestions for how to improve the specific services or activities they are responsible for.”

Differentiating your organisation: Whether you’re pitching to investors, writing a funding proposal, engaging with stakeholders, or rallying your team, a Theory of Change provides a powerful storytelling tool. It enables you to communicate what you do, why, for whom and how as well, as the impact that results from this. This not only enhances your credibility but also attracts support and resources to fuel your mission.

“We gained language to communicate the impact to program participants, funders, and our internal team.”

Learning and adaptation: The journey towards impact is not always straightforward. It requires continuous learning, iteration, and adaptation. A Theory of Change serves as a roadmap for this journey, enabling you to track progress, identify gaps, and course correct as needed. By fostering a culture of reflection and learning, you can ensure that your organization remains agile, resilient, and responsive to changing needs and contexts.

“We learned valuable lessons about where the true impact of our program lay and made changes to future versions of the program grounded in our theory of change.”

The organisations in the action-learning groups have demonstrated the transformative power of investing in an internal organisational process to embed impact in their organisations. It’s about unlocking the full potential of your organization to create lasting, meaningful change in the world.

“We worked with Anton to develop a theory of change and measurement framework for a new leadership development program…Anton met us where we were: he was quickly able to determine our strengths and gaps, and led us through an experimental approach which allowed us to gather and analyse data that would inform the impact of our program whilst testing our assumptions along the way. Anton is extremely skilled at drawing the essence of ‘what matters most’ from amidst a confusing pool of stakeholder values.”

The next action-learning cohort will launch in November 2024, with in-person workshops taking place monthly over 6 months. Are you ready to take your organization’s impact to the next level?

Anton Simanowitz (antons@socialperformance.net)