Social works is an important part of boosting community and people’s lives. Regardless if they work on providing assistance or trying to deal with social issues, the outcomes of their effort will largely depend on the impact it brings. Thus, being able to measure the result of their work is not just important in ensuring accountability but also, to see if resources are used correctly.
The Importance of Measuring Outcomes
First and foremost, there are several good reasons for measuring the result. Among it is the fact that it helps in identifying whether such service has achieved its objective like:
- Lowering Homelessness
- Improve People’s Mental Health
- Increase Job Placement
On top of this, measurable outcomes show proof of work to investors, funders, as well as policymakers. Last but not least, it allows for the identification whether the program was a success or not. By knowing about these things, the data can be used to replicate the process and improve future projects.
Failing to set goals will result to missed opportunities, wasted energy and effort, and not to mention, resources allotted to the project.
Key Elements for Effective Social Project
In an effort to gauge how effective social service projects are, it is vital to concentrate on certain key elements such as:
- Inputs – this covers financial, material, and manpower resources that are allotted to execute the service.
- Activities – the specific service or action provided like counselling, workshops, upskilling and so forth.
- Output – it’s the immediate result of the activities performed like the total count of participants serviced, provided training hours, or even the distributed meals.
These pieces of information will later deliver a comprehensive financial report. And while it is easy to track the outputs, it doesn’t mean that people in charged can go easy on it.
Common Challenges in Measuring Outcomes
True, there are challenges associated in measuring outcome. Primarily because of the diverse population and complexity of social issues. Factors like changing external conditions, limited resources, and so forth are all hindering to come up with strong evaluation.
This is the exact same reason why people accountable in these types of projects must give it time and effort to accurately get the information required.