In previous articles, I’ve talked over and over again about Funder’s desire to see results and how important results are. But I know from experience and conversations with government agencies and nonprofits that many people struggle to understand the difference in results and activities. So here are some clues to knowing the difference so that you can identify and use the Results when seeking or justifying funding and reporting.
Your result may be someone else’s activity. The Results you need to produce depend on where your organization / program fits on the continuum of big picture. When you rely on funding from outside your organization or agency, you are somewhere on the funder’s mission / program continuum. This also applies if you belong to a department within a government agency or entity. Think of it as an assembly line. Your station on the line is somewhere in the middle. Here’s an illustration: The purpose of your station is to take a raw material (such as corn), modify it (cut the ear of corn), and then move it to another station to perform another function (cook it). The final product will be creamed corn in a can. Your station’s work on the line is vital to the bottom line. To the big picture your station performs an Activity; for your station, you have produced a Result.
Don’t assume that your activities are what matters. At the assembly line where your station produces corn cut off the cob, you will likely be expected to produce a specific amount of cut corn. At big picture Your season is not measured by how many ears you process, how fast you cut your corn, or how fast you process each ear. Also, in the big picture It does not matter how long it takes for the machine to warm up or how many times you have to stop the machine and clear an obstruction. Your season is measured by the amount of cut corn that makes it to the next step on the assembly line. In other words, it is measured by how much your station contributes to the final product.
With this (continuous) assembly line image in mind, here are some points to help you differentiate between Activities and Results for your agency / organization within the Funder’s Desired Outcome. Below are some typical activities that people often mistake for results:
- Actions that count: briefings, classes, tutoring sessions, speeches, counseling sessions, completed forms
- Tickets you provide: staff, volunteers, money, venue, coaches, tryouts, counselors, food
- Results that count: participants, attendees, graduates, program finalists, certifications, qualifications, parental guidance
- Resources You Get: Student Materials, Childcare for Vocational Attendees, Mobile Classroom, Counseling Services
Results are what produces Depending on where you are on the continuum – When reporting and seeking funding, you need to explain how your product helps achieve the funder or association’s results. Here are some examples:
- Middle School Students Ready to Enter High School – Show how you know they are ready to enter high school and move toward graduation and get a job with family-sustaining salaries
- Nutritional foods for seniors that help improve your overall health
- Program participants who are ready to fill and maintain positions in healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, etc. that provide family support wages
- Healthier families because it provided food for primary school children on weekends, health screenings for seniors, free medical clinic
- Decrease of children in poverty because it has facilitated the result of more people employed with family wages
I have tried to give you some explanations and examples so that you can be better prepared to determine your own Results and differentiate them from the Activities. However, the Results are very personal to an organization / agency and where they fit into the big picture. One of the best advice I can give is to get outside input. People within an organization or agency are so busy doing work that it is difficult for them to step back enough to see the other parts of the continuum. External scrutiny can help with this. Foreign aid can come from many sources, here are a few: funder (donor, donor, government agency, etc.), education (college, interns, students in an appropriate location, professors, etc.), consultant, board, volunteer , other organizations / agencies and even the funder.