Impact Evaluation Programs

What is impact?
The heart of your EARS report
Identifying and fleshing out true public impact in your extension programs is
essential to developing effective impact reporting. Demand for impact
information mounts as lawmakers, the public and our partners all want to
know about the return on investments in land-grant university extension,
research and teaching. Understanding the essence of true public impact, or
benefit is key. We often report things like attendance figures, what people like
about an event, the number of meetings held or acres served, a new grant as
impact. While some of this information provides context, none is impact.
Defining impact
􀂄 Basically, impact is the reportable, quantifiable difference, or potential difference, that
your project or program is making in real people’s lives. It reports payoffs and
benefits to society. The focus is on public – not internal or personal – benefit.
􀂄 Impact is change or potential change in one or more key areas:
• Economic.
• Environmental.
• Social.
• Health and well-being.
Reporting impact
􀂄 An impact statement is a brief summary, in lay terms, that:
• Highlights the difference your program is making for the public good.
• Concisely summarizes what you did to achieve this difference.
• Clearly states payoffs to society.
• Answers key questions: So what? Who cares? Why?
􀂄 An impact statement is not:
• Just more paperwork.
• A long, detailed report.
• Numbers of people reached, meetings held, acres served. These provide
context but alone, they don’t capture the element of change essential to good
impact.
• A detailed description of the process or what’s been done.
• A list of additional grants, honors, recognition for organizers.
􀂄 Be specific. Report economic, environmental, social or health/well-being impact in
terms of:
• Knowledge gained and how that knowledge is applied.
• Behavior or attitude changes.
• Practice or situations changes.
• Results of those behavior, attitude, practice or situation changes.
􀂄 Effective impact statements:
• Provide quantifiable evidence of change or difference the program made.
(Money is the gold standard. Audiences want to know the return of investment.)
• Give other evidence, such as testimonials or anecdotes.
• Realistically project potential benefit for work in progress.
• Provide only enough detail to be easily understood.
• Highlight public benefits, outcomes, payoffs.
􀂄 To consistently show real impact, you must program to produce it.
• Know what you want to measure and figure out how to measure it.
• Build around issues, not events.
• Follow up to find out if people made the changes they predicted they would.
• Report overall program outcomes, not individual events, activities.
Impact audiences
􀂄 Write impact statements for:
• State and federal decision makers (reporting needs).
• Local decision makers, supporters, general public.
• Taxpayers, stakeholders, commodity groups.
• Current and potential funders or partners.
Impact tips and tricks
􀂄 Write a strong “why” or issue/problem statement:
• Do a Google search to quantify the problem.
• Use reliable sources – Centers for Disease Control, EPA, USDA, etc.
• Highlight “why” details in grant proposals.
􀂄 For difficult impacts – basic research, emerging issues, 4-H, FCS, academics – try:
• Testimonials
• Anecdotes
• If x then y statements – potential impacts