Impact Reporting
Situation
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Our approach
After establishing the report objectives with the Board of Trustees and staff, we reviewed LHA’s existing reports, data and Theory of Change, and defined the metrics required to evaluate impact and performance. Surveys were designed, and distributed to LHA residents and alumni for data collection. We also conducted interviews with partner organisations in order to develop holistic case studies of the indirect impact that LHA achieves. Findings from surveys and interviews were collated in an impact report, which describes the context, mission and vision statements, outputs, and results from the data collected on shorter- and longer-term outcomes.
Our impact
The social impact report has recently been published to the LHA website. The report clearly demonstrates the direct impact that LHA has on its residents, and the indirect impact it achieves through its support to partner organisations. For example, we found that more than half of the residents thought that they would not have been able to stay in London if they had not stayed with LHA, indicating that LHA is able to make London more accessible to these people. We also explain how, during the pandemic, as a large proportion of international young people left the city, LHA was able to provide its empty hostels to a number of homelessness charities, helping to alleviate rough sleeping in a time of reduced access to shelter, support, and funds. With the help of this report and the data collection tools used to measure social impact, LHA will be able to continue to consistently measure and communicate their impact in the coming years.