Measuring Impact - Nicva

The development of indicators for impact assessment 47
7.2.3 Interviews and focus groups
Background information was collected at this stage. This included data on AFG’s organisational
structure, number of employees, funding, and geographical remit; together with
project-specific data such as courses available and numbers of people attending courses.
These input and output measures provided the contextual information for the impact study.
When carrying out a study of this nature, it is vital that the organisation and staff work closely
with the researcher. In this case-study it was NICVA who approached AFG to take part in the
research. It was important to explain the whole process, from identifying appropriate stakeholders
to the benefits that could be gained for their organisation. In the case of an organisation
carrying out its own impact analysis the full participation of the staff will be equally important.
Focus groups and unstructured interviews were arranged with staff and groups affiliated to
AFG. They explored with participants their perceptions of the organisation’s overall impact,
focusing on the concepts of human and social capital.
7.2.4 Selecting an existing analytical framework
A significant aspect of the voluntary sector’s impact is its contribution to social capital,
including trust and civic participation, and to human capital, such as confidence and new
skills. In order to capture these different types of impact, an analytical framework was
selected which focused on both social and human capital, namely the framework developed
by the New Economics Foundation (NEF). Another similar framework considered but not
used was that developed by Community Evaluation Northern Ireland (a community-based
evaluation organisation) which was based upon categories devised by the World Bank, and
tailored to the Northern Irish context.
One of the advantages of the NEF framework is that it also captured relationships within and
between organisations. As the project developed, the framework headings were tailored to
meet the needs of individual and group interviews, and extended to include a wider range of
possible impacts.
Indicators were developed from themes that recurred in the interviews. These were then
grouped under the framework headings and under any additional themes identified.
Indicators were developed for each of the sets of stakeholders identified in the system. Care
was taken to ensure that they were clearly worded and relevant to the organisation and that
they covered the full range of the organisation’s activities.