Impact assessment: what’s in it for me?

Welcome to Impact Wizard

What is your social impact? Are you doing 'the right things' to achieve that impact?  Are these difficult questions? Then continue reading!

Impact Wizard is your simple, smart and effective guide to assess and increase your impact. It is a well equipped toolbox. Not only does it ask you the right questions, but it also helps you to find the indicators and measurement tools that fit you. 

Reasons for impact assessment

• Are you looking to raise new funds? Or do you need to justify the investment you have already received?
• Do you want to communicate better about the added value of your organisation?
• Want to better understand the outcome of your activities? And how you can improve it?
• Are you looking for ways to better motivate your staff?

Did you answer ’Yes’ to one of the questions above? Then impact assessment is for you. Impact Wizard guides you through the various steps.

How does Impact Wizard work?

Modules

Impact Wizard offers you a clear structure, for you to use flexibly.

Five modules guide you along the full process of an impact evaluation. Starting with a stakeholder mapping, taking you all the way to your impact report and adapting your activities to maximise your impact.

• Context & focus (frame the evaluation in your broader organisation)  
• Theory of change (clarify your impact logic)
• Measurement plan (find here indicators and measurement methods for your impact assessment)
• Measure & analyse (data collection and analysis - new!)
• Maximise your impact (improve, communicate and monitor your impact)

You can go through all fases of a complete impact evaluation. Or you can take the steps you need right now. 

In any case, you can try out everything for free for two weeks. 

SAVING...

Impact Wizard saves the answers you enter. At the end of every module, you'll receive a printable report containing your answers in that module. 

… AND ADAPTING

All answers can always be adjusted by going back to the question. According to your changes, Impact Wizard will give you different information. 

By the way, did you know that Impact Wizard can duplicate your evaluations? This way, you can make different versions of one evaluation. You'll find this option when starting a new evaluation. 

HELP!

Some questions in Impact Wizard are really thought-provoking. The tips and examples should get you kick-started.

Would you like someone facilitating your impact process? Then continue reading at ‘Workshops & impact consultants’.

Workshops & consultants

In Belgium, Social  Innovation Factory runs workshops about impact assessment with Impact Wizard.

Are you not located in Belgium? We are happy to refer to our partners.  Please formulate your question in the contact form. 

Is it hard to be clear on your desired impact? To prioritise what to measure? Are you looking for a specific expertise on impact measurement? Then take a look at the menu 'Support'. A network of impact consultants can help you. Feel free to contact them directly. 

Pricing

A free trial is offered for two weeks.

You can buy a year subscription for €1000 excl. VAT. To do so, go to My profile>Manage subscription. Smaller organisations and individuals get up to 70% discount.

Our Impact Wizard partners support their members using Impact Wizard. Have a look here to know if you are eligible for a free subscription.

Would your organisation also like to support their members on impact measurement and use Impact Wizard for this? Just drop us a line and we'll be in touch. 

Credits

Impact Wizard is the result of two years of action research based on an initiative by the Social Innovation Factory and Verenigde Verenigingen, together with a stakeholder network of over 100 individuals and 50 organisations, funds, companies and (knowledge) institutions. We wish to thank everyone who made this action research possible:

• The organisations and companies which were pioneers in taking up the challenge of investigating their impact. You will find them in the many examples in Impact Wizard.
• The coaches and consultants who supported those impact pioneers pro bono in this adventure. They are ready to provide further support relating to impact assessment, if that should prove necessary at a given time. For a list, we refer to the support page.
• The umbrella organisations and foundations that were just as curious as the impact pioneers about what could be learned about social impact assessment. They help disseminate the Impact Wizard and offer specific support in this regard. For a list, we refer to the support page.
• The experts who were prepared to share their expertise at the right place and at the right time. Our special thanks go to Marc Jans (Socius), Joke Vandenabeele (KULeuven), Adinda Van Hemelrijck (Institute of Development Studies), Mieke Berghmans (KULeuven), Edith Kroese (Avance – the Impact Engineers), Tinne Vandensande (King Baudouin Foundation), Ben Carpenter (Social Value International), Yves De Weerdt (ViTO) Pieter Jansen (HiPo Data Analytics), Esther De Smet (Ugent), Wim Vannoberghen (IMinds), Benedict Wauters (ESF – University of Antwerp),  Steff Deprez (Voices that Count), Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe (imec Mediawijs) and Pierre Fastrez (UCL). For a list of the literature used, we refer to the literature page.
• The agency Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship for support.