Strong Voices

Last year, IHC asked some specialists to measure the impact of our Family-Whānau Liaison programme in changing lives.

Thanks to two generous IHC donors, we commissioned a Donor Impact Report on our Family-Whānau Liaison work in Whangārei.

This was a brave new world for us, and we were a bit fearful about whether analysing our front-line work through a numbers and data lens would completely miss the important human interactions and impact of this programme.

We collected all the non-identifiable data and information we could for the ImpactLab data analysts reviewing the programme, showing the number of people supported, the number of interactions and outcomes over a 12-month period.

The result has been so worthwhile in helping IHC to identify how we collect data and understand outcomes and impacts, and how we could get much better at it.The report showed that every $1 spent on this programme provided a social return and positive impact of $2.10.

We also know that as we get better at measuring and capturing key data and outcomes, this social return on our donors’ investments will be even higher.

We are very grateful to Glenn and Sonja Hawkins, who suggested doing this report and funded the costs.

I know how important it is for each of us as donors and supporters to see what impact we are having. There is a transaction in fundraising: a donor gives money to a cause they really care about and in return they want to feel they have had a positive impact – someone has been helped, someone has a better future, our community is a better place.

The great thing about this impact report is that it not only measures that impact,it helps us get much better at understanding the difference we are making.

We know about the excellent work done by people on the front lines of our work,like Jim Callaghan, our Family-Whānau Liaison in Whangārei, but it’s so good to have the impact quantified in a scientific way and get some great insights into how we can do things even better.

This is our first ImpactLab report at IHC. There will be others over the coming years.

I love being part of and raising funds for an organisation that wants always to improve on our work and impact. It’s so good for our wonderful donors to have confidence they are making a lasting difference to the lives and futures of people with intellectual disabilities. This is part of our IHC fundraising transaction and our promise to our donors to deliver positive impacts effectively in the community.

Greg Millar

National Manager, IHC Fundraising

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