Introduction to Impact Reporting The importance of impact

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Introduction to Impact Reporting The
importance of impact
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What is IMPACT and why should we care?

• Impact defined
• Importance of impact reporting
• Impact statements defined

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What is IMPACT

• Impact is
• The reportable and verifiable difference a
  land-grant program makes in the lives of citizens.

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What is IMPACT

• Importance of Impact Reporting...
• Letting people know what were doing is important
  for many reasons
• Public accountability
• Program accountability
• Return on investment
• Better public understanding of the whole
  picture of research, teaching and service
• Future funding
• Better awareness of all the programs within the
  institution.

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What is IMPACT

• An Impact Statement is
• A brief summary, in lay terms, of the economic,
  environmental and/or social impact of your
  efforts. It states accomplishments and their
  payoff to society.

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What is IMPACT

• In short, an impact statement answers the
  questions
• So what?
• and
• Who cares?

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Whos your Impact Audience?

• the general public
• local governing bodies
• state officials
• federal officials
• your peers
• external funding sources
• industry representatives

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Whos your impact audience?

• What do they all have in common?
• Exercise some kind of control over your programs
• Generally want only information vital to
  decisions
• Have lots of competition for their attention
• Are asking for quantifiable differences brought
  about by investments in your program

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The Importance of Impact to Each of Us

• or. Why we each care.

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Impact reporting is important to administrators
because it...

• illustrates your accountability
• improves visibility of programs (local, state,
  national)
• generates support materials for lobbying
• is a repository of anecdotes for speeches or
  letters
• helps organize your focus for initiatives and
  program themes

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to admin because it...

• helps build greater understanding of your
  programs by your publics
• is easier to sell science and education
  programs when you emphasize outcomes
• results in a product you can reuse

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Impact reporting is important to faculty and
field staff because...

• this kind of reporting makes sense to the public
• youre contributing to scientific literacy (or
  agricultural literacy, or food literacy, or....)
• it cuts the number of urgent requests you get for
  program examples, story ideas, etc...
• your work will get more exposure
• your work gets exposed to potential funders

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Impact reporting is important to communicators
because it...

• is a source of story ideas
• adds depth to your reporting
• gets everybody doing similar reports, making it
  easier to generate communication tools
• makes it easier to plan awareness campaigns

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Ultimately.

• The public expects us to be accountable to show
  the impact of our land-grant programs.
• Impact is the difference your programs are making
  in peoples lives.
• Impact statements tell various audiences about
  that difference.

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Elements of an Impact Statement

• What makes a good Impact Statement?

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What makes a good impact statement?

• Remember
• An impact statement is a brief summary, in lay
  terms, of the social, environmental and/or
  economic impact of your efforts. It states
  accomplishments and their payoff to society.

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What makes a good impact statement?

• It answers the questions
• So what?
• and
• Who cares?

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What makes a good impact statement?

• It illustrates change in at least one of the
  following
• Economic value or efficiency
• Environmental quality
• Societal/individual wellbeing

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Elements of an impact statement

• Economic value or efficiency
• Five years ago, Cornpone County pork producers
  spent 17 more than the state average to raise a
  market hog. We helped them improve their record
  keeping and production practices, and costs
  dropped 20 to 3.19 BELOW the state average.
  Each farms profit increased 345,000 over five
  years, bringing more hogs, more jobs, and more
  spending to the county.

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Elements of an impact statement

• Environmental quality...
• Chopped waste paper is an economical substitute
  for wood chips commonly used as bedding by the
  horse industry. Our scientists have found that
  the paper absorbs moisture better too. By using
  some of the 76 million tons of paper Americans
  throw away each year, researchers can reduce
  landfill demands, save a few trees and keep
  horses comfy all at once.

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Elements of an Impact Statement

• Social/Individual wellbeing (health)
• No standards exist for wooden basketball, dance
  and aerobics floors. So, were setting them. Our
  scientists study the role of floor type and
  construction in chronic-use injuries that often
  make people stop exercising. Computer models
  predict how a floor reacts to various forces or
  environmental changes. Those predictions, and
  what doctors know about chronic athletic
  injuries, bring a prescription for safer exercise
  for athletes of all ages and abilities.

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An impact statement is not...

• A description of process
• The number of folks attending a meeting, enrolled
  in a program or some other counting report

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Reporting potential impact...

• Potential impact should be considered, especially
  in basic research and teaching or youth education
  work.

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Example of potential impact

• We bought special software for classroom
  computers. The students learned to analyze the
  total true cost of producing food products. Using
  the same software industry uses makes these
  students ready for the job market and ready to
  enhance the food economy.

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Example of an anecdotal impact statement

• Farmer James says the university saved her life.
  A radio report on rabies symptoms in cattle was
  produced and distributed. Farmer heard on her
  local station and thought she had a cow with
  symptoms. Called the vet -- no rabies. A second
  opinion -- no rabies. Cow dies and the farmer
  sends it for testing. Tests positive for
  transmittable rabies. The farmer got immediate
  treatment. And credits the radio report with
  describing things well enough to save her life.

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Impact reporting does NOT replace...

• personal contact within your university
• personal contact outside your university
• a detailed scientific report
• other communication or P.R. tools
• focused reports

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Uses for Impact Statements

• We wrote these things. Now what?

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Uses for impact statements

• regular reports to general public
• regular reports to officials
• targeted reports to people or groups interested
  in a particular topic
• to attract funding
• as tips for media

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Using impact...

• to show university response to an issue
• as part of an overall project tracking system
• to find common grounds for collaboration with
  other land-grants, agencies, businesses
• to quickly update on-going projects
• as examples for university marketing efforts

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Use impact examples ...

• for news releases
• on web pages
• in promotional brochures
• in speeches
• in letters to supporters

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Target your impact audience

• Match the impact statement and its presentation
  to whomever you want to understand that activity.

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Using impact...

• You can use all kinds of media and packaging
  themes to present impact statements.

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Reporting Writing the IMPACT Statement
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Remember

• An impact statement is a brief summary, in lay
  terms, of the social, environmental and/or
  economic impact of your efforts. It states your
  accomplishments and their payoff to society.
• It answers the questions
• So what?
• Who cares?

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Other elements to consider

• Potential impact
• Anecdotes
• Where impact is hardest to define

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Other elements ...

• Potential impact should be considered, especially
  in basic research and teaching or youth education
  work.

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Potential impact

• Includes most likely benefactors of the research
  or education project
• What you expect the outcome to be and why
• An idea of how long it would take to reach
  expected outcomes
• Real or hypothetical examples of expected outcomes

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Anecdotes

• Anecdotal, single, quantifiable examples of
  behavior change or knowledge acquisition which
  can be extrapolated to a quantifiable broader
  audience in relationship to an already quantified
  problem can make effective impact statements.
• (Just dont write them this way!)

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Impact areas hard to define quantify

• youth and families
• basic research
• campus classroom efforts
• long-run efforts

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Hard to define quantify impact areas

• Focus on potential impact
• Use examples and anecdotes
• Report accomplishments to date that are tied to
  potential impact

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Lets write

• Refer to the fact sheet youve been given for the
  details of the story. Then, identify
• The kind of impact (econ, enviro, social)
• Most likely audiences
• Any potential impact
• Any good examples/illustrations
• Quantifiable facts
• Vital information for decisions
• Missing facts

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Remember.

• The public expects us to be accountable -- to
  show the impact of our land-grant programs.
• Impact is the difference your programs are making
  in peoples lives.
• Impact statements tell various audiences about
  that difference.

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For more information

• Contact your presenter, communication office,
  impact reporting officer, or dean/director
• Take a look at how impact statements are being
  used nationally.
• www.reeusda.gov/success/impact.htm

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So you want to build a tracking system for your
impact statements?!
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Track with impact reports...

• project name/title
• project number/organizational identifier
• date of entry or modification
• project leader
• name
• address
• phone
• fax
• E-mail

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Track with impact reports...

• Collaborator(s)
• (name, address, etc..)
• Department or institutional unit
• Location of project work (campus, county..)
• Multi-state effort? (and states involved)
• Funding sources
• Who will benefit most from this work?

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Track with impact reports...

• Existing Web address for project data
• Clientele contacts or testimonials?
• Search/classification systems
• keywords
• categories
• initiatives/issues (local, state, usda)
• Photos/video/audio available?
• Best interview source