Measuring Impact
In CSI
MICHELLE YORKE
MICHELLE@CSISOLUTIONS.CO.ZA
CSI SOLUTIONS.CO.ZA
AND
CSR LIBRARY.CO.ZA
Why Measure Impact?
 Impact is the new buzz word but what’s the
relevance?
 2004 – White elephant projects
 Multi national corporate projects
 Classrooms – used as storage – no teachers
 Computer centre – no skilled teacher or electricity
 Large commercial veg garden, funded by the EU,
goats grazing in the field
Research project :The CSI Toolkit
 18





months of in-depth research
Interviews with corporates & NGO’s
Desktop research
CSI dialogue sessions with practitioners
Site visits
Project evaluations
 Which
resulted in The CSI Toolkit
 http://www.csisolutions.co.za/csi-toolkit.php
CSI Process
CSI in SA: Making an Impact
 SA has been active in CSI for 15 years
 Estimated spend in SA in 2012 was about R6.5
billion
Biggest Spenders include
(Trialogue 2011)
600
512
500
400
314
300
200
134
100
132
119
105
88
85
0
R(m) Truworths Impala Platinum
Anglo American SAWoolworths KumbaIron Ore
Standard Bank Group
Anglo Platinum
Transnet Foundation
83
83
Absa
Harmony
CSI Reporting
 But there is little evidence of impact, as most report on
what they are spending and not what they have achieved.
 Shift focus from reporting on inputs and outputs of
spending, to impact.
 Saying you spent R10 million does not instill confidence in
your shareholders.
 Reporting that you up-skilled 100 people who are now
in the job market and contributing to the economy is not
only far more meaningful, but also more credible.
Understanding Impact
 CSI is an investment
 Impact
 Community:
clear, measurable changes in social
issues being addressed;
 Business: “bottom –line”
 E.g. client retention to ensure sustainable commercial
success
Selecting Projects
 Often projects are undertaken due to:
 Great professional proposal
 Awesome marketing potential
 Limited planning and thought about REAL impact
 Short sighted, Leads to …
Implied Impact
 Largely – Storytelling, PR
 May benefit in the short term but doubtful that sustainable
 Little credibility – people starting to ask questions
 Doesn’t inform grant-maker
 Impact limited as you don’t know what you don’t know (how to
improve, lessons learnt, develop models)
 Leads to frustrated grant-maker & beneficiary
 Little support and understanding from board
Intended Impact
 Everything your company does has an impact on:

the environment, community, marketplace and workplace
 Clearly identify WHAT you want to achieve?
 What do you intend the impact of the intervention to be:



i.e. how will your intervention make an impact.
e.g. Impact= To improve maths and english marks.
Or
To train computer skills?
 Who agrees that if you have done this you have made a sustainable
impact?
 Yes/no
Impact is the ULTIMATE
IMPACT
However, we need to ask…
 Why do you want people to have skills or have good
Maths and English marks?
 If that’s where it ends then all we have achieved is
people sitting at home with computer skills, and
great Maths marks….
Impact = END RESULT
 Surely, you want people to be employed or start their
own businesses to employ people?
Now that would be sustainable impact!
 So once you know what the impact should be and
what you need to measure, its easy…
What’s MY impact
 You can’t measure your impact if you don’t know
where it started…
 Baseline Study
 Snapshot of the before…
Example: Baseline
No Baseline
With Baseline
Input:
R600 000
R600 000
Output after investment:
103 Bee Hives
103 Bee Hives
Base line:
# prior to investment
????
100 hives
Impact =
103 Bee Hives earning
103-100 =
3 Bee Hives earning
How SA companies are doing M&E?
(Trialogue, 2011)
Impact Process
 Step 1 - Set Goals:


For business
For community
 Step 2 - Clarify your Intended Impact
 Step 3 - Set indicators
 Involve stakeholders
 Step 3 – Conduct baseline
 Step 4 - Value Inputs (cash, time, in-kind)
 Step 5 – Ongoing monitoring

Conduct site visits: collecting data
 Step 6 - Measure outputs : # beneficiaries
 Step 7 - Measure impact
Keep it logical
INPUT
INPUT
If we use ….
R224 000
ACTIVITIES
To …..
train 40 learners on english and
numeracy
OUTPUT
Then … will result
40 illiterate youths develop their
numerical and communication
skills
IMPACT
Which will change ……
40 youths’ prospects of
employability and income
generation
Case Study: Nkosinathi High School
 Identifying a school within a 25 km radius of the business
 Criteria: a headmaster who is a good leader, and a well-managed
school.
 Nkosinathi High School, a well-established school located in
Inanda.



1,200 learners, severe overcrowding, not enough high schools in the area
The smallest class had 41 learners and the largest 140
Matric pass rate was about 60%.
 Partnership: Commitment from the Department of Education
 allocated more teachers and furniture would be provided for new classrooms.
 Agreed to build three new classrooms and a toilet block
 The project got started in 2010.
Nkosinathi– Impact Evaluation
Measuring Project Impact
 Planning is the first step in the evaluation process.
 We monitor and evaluate in order to ensure the project
makes an impact.
 Measuring impact is a process, which entails ongoing
M&E.
 It is not a push button exercise in which you will achieve
100% with your first attempt.

Qualitative can become Quantitative
 There is no one way, it can be as long or as in depth as
you need it to be.
Example: Measuring Impact:
Keep it simple!
 Problem identified: Cholera outbreak every year in a




community
Why (Analysis of problem): There is a lack of clean
drinking water
What is the solution (Project): Provision of 10
boreholes to community
How will we know it’s a success (Indicators of
achievement): There will be a 50% reduction in the
number of cholera cases by year 3
Impact (Result): After year 3, there was a 65%
reduction in cholera cases
M&E in summary
Do…
Don’t…
 Be clear about your goals
before you start measuring
 Don’t think measurement alone
will improve results
 Identify who will use the results  Don’t over engineer the process
and how
 Involve your stakeholders
 Use a robust methodology
 Distinguish between inputs,
outputs and impact
 Don’t always do it alone external evaluators
 Don’t communicate only the
positive aspects, share lessons
 Don’t measure everything – be
sure you are focused
To Maximise your Impact
 Learn from SA & our MANY mistakes!
 Meet & support your peers – it is a lonely road
 Don’t see CSI as a purely branding platform where
competitiveness takes over
 Work together and don’t let corporate ego’s take over
 More can be achieved through partnership
Responsibility
Outcomes
Measure
investment
skills
Strategy
Measures
monitor
INDICATOR
S
capacity
M&E
Baseline
Benchmark
Exit strategy
CSI
Connect
Sustainable development
Community Benefits
SROI
Economic
IMPACT
development
Planning
Business benefits
Development
EVALUATE
Governance
IMPACT
Sustainability
Stakeholder
INDICATORS
Transparent