Measuring Up will help groups measure impact

Measuring Up, developed by Charity Evaluation Services (CES), is currently in its trial stages and is being piloted across the UK.

As part of their ongoing work to improve and develop the Northern Ireland Community and Voluntary Sector, the Trust is the Northern Ireland representative for the Inspiring Impact initiative.

Inspiring Impact is a UK wide initiative that aims to change the way the voluntary and community sector thinks about impact and to make high quality impact practice the norm for charities and social enterprises by 2022.

Measuring Up is a straightforward, step-by-step online self-assessment tool that takes you through each stage of monitoring and evaluation in turn, to help you to work out where your organisation’s monitoring and evaluation practice is going well, and to identify where there might be room for improvement.

Measuring Up has been developed in collaboration with a group of 20 third sector academics, funders, commissioners, researchers, charities and social enterprises.

It contains clear guidance on the standard of practice that organisations of different sizes and shapes should be aiming for, and includes action plans for improvement.

In just a couple of hours, Measuring Up can help groups and organisations to: identify where they are doing well with monitoring and evaluation, get to grips with the areas where they might need further support, understand the level of practice a particular organisation should be aiming for and build action plans for improving the quality of future monitoring and evaluation.

Groups can also use Measuring Up to record progress, by updating the tool as practice goes from strength to strength.

Completing the tool should take no more than a few hours, and will generate a report that shows, at a glance, how well the organisation is doing across each key step of monitoring and evaluation.

In order for CES to learn from the pilot and improve the tool, they will also be asking people to provide some quick feedback about their experience of using Measuring Up at the end of February.

In return for piloting the tool, they are offering organisations who are selected to take part a £20 Amazon voucher and full acknowledgement in the finished tool.

If you would like the opportunity to trial the free tool, and to be a part of its development, please tell us a little more about your organisation by completing this information form and return it to julia@ces-vol.org.uk by the 7th February 2014.