4. Learning from your outcomes

4.1 How to analyse your outcome information

If you gather outcomes information using the types of questions illustrated in section 3 and add up the findings, you will be able to calculate numbers achieving different outcomes in your project, such as:

• 54 young people started taking more responsibility.
• 26 parents said they felt less isolated.
• 35 households families started recycling for the first time.

You could also work out the percentages achieving each outcome. For example, of 72 people at the youth club, 75 per cent started taking more responsibility.

You will also find out the proportion of beneficiaries who stayed the same or had negative outcomes. Remember that staying the same can be a verypositive outcome for some beneficiaries and situations.

If you have used questions with scales, you can also work out:

• the average start point, which is also evidence of need
• the average end point, which is what was achieved
• the average amount of change (outcome), which is the difference between the figures above.

Exactly what this information will look like and how much detail you have will depend on the monitoring you have done. You can get a lot of useful outcomes information from a few scales or questions. You will have individual information, but by adding up all responses to each question and averaging them, you will sometimes have an overall summary. Remember, though, that that will not always be the case, so you have to think about and test the approaches before you start using them.

Here is an example of what could come out of a simple questionnaire used twice:

Example: Of 150 management committee (MC) members who attended training:

• 120 increased their knowledge of their role as a MC member (80 per cent).
• 102 increased their knowledge of fundraising (68 per cent).
• 69 increased knowledge of strategic planning (46 per cent).

You could also calculate outcome information across different types of beneficiary as long as you have collected relevant information on the questionnaire about individuals. So you might be able to answer such questions as:

• Do young people under 15 achieve better outcomes than those over 15?
• Do men have a higher level of starting need than women?

4.2 Learning from the numbers

BIG will ask to report on progress with your intended outcomes, but we also encourage you to undertake self-evaluation for your own benefit. You can do this as set out in this guide, or you can employ an outside evaluator to help you to do that (and to support the way that you gather information to report on your outcomes to us). We believe that self-evaluation and learning from the findings help projects and organisations to develop and improve, and so we are happy to consider funding the cost of doing this.
The good news is that there is likely to be a big overlap between the information that you collect to report to us and what you need for self-evaluation, although you may want to collect more information for self-evluation.
The guidance notes for each of our programmes will tell you whether we have any specific requirements or support for self-evaluation in place for you.

There are two main uses for the information you have collected and analysed. One is to report to your funders about progress towards achieving your outcomes. The other is for you and your project to consider and learn from your findings. Doing this is called self-evaluation. This is an activity that allows you to think about how you can improve your project to get even better results.

The further examples on the website show some of the information and trends you can identify from analysing information, and some conclusions and further questions that they can lead to.

Although funders will not necessarily want to see the results of your selfevaluation, you may be able to use those findings if you need to explain why progress is not as good as expected. This is another reason why it is worth considering what you need to report to your funder and how to make that part of a wider self-evaluation that will also allow you to manage and review your performance for your own needs.

This raises an important point, much of what you gather and report is based on figures, so while it can measure progress, it will not explain why your project has performed well or not so well. So it is essential to look beyond figures (and particularly unexpected ones) so that you can try to understand what has happened. This will also help you to focus more on doing more of what works and improving or doing less of what does not.

If there are concerns about how you are doing, it is always worth discussing these with your funder - and preferably before you have to report them. It is best to show that you have considered any problems, why they have arisen, and what you can do about them. Sometimes there will be external factors that you could not have predicted and that are outside your control. Or you may find that some aspects of your work are proving unexpectedly more popular and successful than others. Funders will normally want to work with you to deal with the unexpected and may be happy to negotiate changes to agreed levels of outcome and milestones.

Some further tips on reporting

• In many cases, and particularly if you are using statistics that come from outside your project, it may not be clear how far your project has caused those changes and how far other factors have. If possible, make sure that you have some measures in place that relate just to your project. It is quite likely that you have helped to achieve wider changes, but do not make claims that are too grand.
• External factors and changes may help or hinder your project?s performance - or just the reliability of your outcomes and measures. For instance, a new government programme might change the whole basis of need and the range of services available. Work with your funder to review your plans if this happens.
• Sometimes you will have worked with other organisations to achieve outcomes. If you can, report on this to funders and give evidence about how working together has led to stronger outcomes.
• Do not think that it is a failure if you have to change plans. We cannot always predict what is going to happen. Indeed, if you can identify changes that affect your project, work out how you can respond to them in order to help meet your overall aim, and then make a case for doing so to your funder, you will have shown that you can respond flexibly to changing circumstances. This is a useful skill for projects, and one that funders are likely to respond to positively. Keeping details of how you have learned and responded in this way may also help you to make a stronger case to potential future funders of your project.

4.3 Using your learning to improve your project

The approaches that we have discussed in this guide should help you to meet funders' requirements effectively. But the last section shows that reporting is not always enough. You should ensure that you can take time to consider what the findings tell you and whether you have to take action to improve your project or whether they raise matters that you should investigate further.

The table below gives some possible decisions and actions that could arise from the example projects that we have used in this guide.

Time your self-evaluation and its review for when you are starting to plan for the year ahead. The information that you have will be more relevant and you will be better placed to make informed decisions about the future.

Share your learning

Use your outcomes information to highlight your success. You could distribute a summary of yourkey outcomes  and learning to other projects and organisations you have contact with, make it available to your beneficiaries, and use it to apply for funding to continue to or develop your project: outcome funding offers you more than just paperwork.

Where to find out more

The Big Lottery Fund wants to support applicants in making successful applications to us - and to other funders. This guide can only set out some of the main aspects of our general approach. To find out more, please visit the "Explaining the difference your project makes" section of our website at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.