Stop Impact-Washing: 5 Practical Steps to Track Real Impact
- Helen Vaterlaws
- Mar 6
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 29
Impact measurement can make or break your mission. Too many organizations waste time on broken systems. These five steps deliver a clear, science-backed way to track real change.
✅ Step 1. Clarify the 'Why' Behind Your Mission
How: Get front line staff and top leadership into a room to craft a bold measurable objective
Why Precise, ambitious actions inspire clarity and drive action.
E.g. Reduce youth homelessness by 20% in three years.
Tip: What's the one goal your team would rally around, even if it seemed impossible?
🚀ACTION: Set a date this week to brainstorm your bold objective with staff and leadership.
✅ Step 2. Define the 'How' Behind Your Mission
How: Engage directly with beneficiaries and front line staff to determine what data is meaningful and valuable.
Why: Metrics rooted in real experiences ensure genuine relevance and impact, avoiding detached, ineffective measurement.
E.g. Use co-production workshops to identify how you impacted lives.
Insider Tip: Have you asked your beneficiaries what outcomes truly mattered to them?
🚀ACTION: Ask one beneficiary this week: ‘What change matters most to you?’
✅Step 3. Select Metrics That Matter, Not Ones That Flatter
How: Limit yourself to three meaningful metrics directly tied to the ‘why’ behind your mission as described by your beneficiaries.
Why: Meaningful metrics compel genuine improvements over vanity figures.
E.g. ‘improvement in mental health scores,’ ‘engagement in education'
Tip: Which metric’s failure would truly alarm your team?
🚀ACTION: List your current metrics—do they pass the ‘matter over flatter’ test?
✅Step 4. Transform Training from Dull to Dynamic
How: Run interactive training sessions focused on action and real-world examples tailored to each audience.
Why: Active, engaging training boosts adoption and enthusiasm far better than passive lectures.
E.g. 30 mins on why, 30 mins on practical use, and 30 mins on action planning.
Tip: Who are your team’s biggest skeptics and advocates? Bring them together first and use those insights to help design the content.
🚀ACTION: Plan a 90-minute training session using the 30-30-30 split.
✅Step 5. Ditch Metrics That Don’t Deliver
How: Schedule biannual reviews to assess your metrics. If a metric isn’t adding to your story, cut it immediately.
Why: Regular review ensures your system stays lean, adaptive, and impactful.
Tip: Ask your teams, what metric would you drop immediately if leadership gave you the green light?
🚀ACTION: Mark your calendar for a metric review in six months.
For more examples and expert insights on impact measurement challenges, solutions and the future, explore our full deep dive blog 👉 here.
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