Whether you are campaigning to influence decision-makers and effect policy change, or to alter public opinion and change behaviour, measuring impact should be integral to your campaign strategy.
If you can’t measure it, you can’t mend it! Being excellent at delivering a concept and then getting it in front of the right media is great; understanding if it got to your target audience and what they heard or were told is a step closer to changing behaviours. The two skills really do belong hand in hand.
Five advantages of measurement:
Understand whether or not your campaign is helping you achieve your objectives.
Learn from continual assessment over the course of your campaign, to help you proceed in a more structured and evidence-based way.
Be more accountable to stakeholders by reporting with confidence on your campaign’s progress.
Gain trust and support from stakeholders, and those you are campaigning on behalf of, by clearly demonstrating how positive results have been achieved, or what’s been learnt from less desirable outcomes.
Attract funding with evidence of how your campaigning work has contributed to change, and by allowing funders to monitor their own impact.
How to measure impact Speaking at a seminar last year run by NPC (a UK-based charity think tank and consultancy), Enver Solomon of the National Children’s Bureau stated:
“It is incumbent upon the voluntary sector to hold a mirror up to ourselves and to question whether we are making a difference through lobbying and campaigning.”
If you’re looking for such a mirror – the more data you can get your hands on, the clearer the reflection.
For a more rounded picture of what you’re trying to measure, both quantitative and qualitative analysis is recommended. NPC stands by the saying: “No numbers without stories, no stories without numbers” – and that’s very much in line with global best practice when it comes to media monitoring, as outlined in the Barcelona Principles.
Mediamine provides a range of evaluation options using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, from coding standard metrics to aligning media evaluation with organisation goals through Quality Score Reporting (QSR)
“Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that charities are able to speak up for their beneficiaries in powerful campaigns that make a difference to the people they serve – and we’re seeing a real appetite to keep improving campaigning effectiveness through measuring impact and ensuring rapid learning.” – Cecilie Hestbaek, NPC consultant
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