What’s your voluntary organisation’s wellbeing impact? Updated guidance and new bespoke surgeries

• Read our refreshed Measuring your Wellbeing Impact online guide
• Find out more about – and book – a session in our free advice surgery, with our wellbeing measurement and evaluation specialists

The past year the voluntary sector has felt the full force of the financial, emotional, and practical aspects of the pandemic; and the unequal impact on communities. Charities, social enterprises, and funders have adapted and responded quickly and effectively: they have learnt from each other – and from other sectors – about how best to support people and communities. 

In January 2018, we launched Measuring your Wellbeing Impact – digital guidance for small- and medium- charities and social enterprises. It is one of our most popular products, and has been used by tens of thousands of evaluation and non-evaluation practitioners to tell a more nuanced story about outcomes and impact of projects and programmes. 

What’s different? Updated guidance

Today, following an independent evaluation, we’re sharing a refreshed and updated version of the guidance. You’ll still find sections on wellbeing and wellbeing measures; now there is more and improved support on:

• planning and carrying out a wellbeing evaluation
• making sense of your results
• working in the context of Covid-19.

A new Wellbeing Measures Bank

The guide now also offers a Wellbeing Measures Bank, a searchable database of metrics and measures that can be used to assess changes in wellbeing in your evaluation. The Bank includes robust and reliable measures that cover a range of wellbeing outcomes, including how people feel about their lives, how they function in society, and how their personal circumstances affect them. 

As well as our recommended overall measures such as the ONS4 and WEMWBS, you’ll find questions that assess loneliness, neighbourhood belonging and trust, and whether people feel resilient. 

You can also suggest measures you’d like us to add to the Bank, as well as letting us know your experience of using these tools in your evaluation.

Voluntary sector advice surgeries: book your session now!

As well as this publicly-available guide, we’re also running a series of bespoke one-to-one advice surgeries two times a month, over the next six months. The Lottery-funded sessions are run by Margherita Musella – the Centre’s Evaluation Lead – and Ingrid Abreu Scherer – our Civil Society lead. You can get insight and ideas, tailored to your context – on the wellbeing-related issues you are currently facing, for example: 

• how to develop a theory of change or identify pathways to wellbeing
• where to find evidence for your activities
• carrying out a wellbeing evaluation, beyond our Measure your wellbeing impact guidance
• troubleshooting evaluation and learning.

The first advice surgeries will be held on Monday 1st and Monday 22nd March. You can find out more, and book your session, now.