Developing an outcomes approach to planning and evaluating your voluntary and community project

Competition for funding for voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) is increasing. Funders are rightly placing greater demands for projects that are well planned and are clear about the differences they want to make for their beneficiaries. VCOs that can adopt an outcomes approach will have the edge.

Participants:

VCO fundraisers, managers, development workers and trustees.
Social enterprise marketeers, managers, development workers and directors.

Participants will increase their skills to effectively plan and monitor projects.

Participants from funding organisations will be able to develop their expectations of VCOs to develop more accountable projects.

To support an understanding of why being clear about outcomes is relevant and necessary
To clarify what is meant by the key terms of aims, objectives and outcomes
To provide participants with the appropriate language for defining their project s aims, objectives and outcomes
To support participants to consider their own projects in the context of the tools and language introduced
To explore different kinds of outcomes expected and unexpected, positive and negative, where outcomes occur, intermediate and final
To consider what indicators can be used to assess outcomes and the language that should be used to define them
To present a framework for evaluating outcomes as part of the planning process