Telling your impact story with Tūhono Impact

Donna Provoost, Director at Powerdigm

There’s a lot of talk about social impact – but are we all clear on what that means?

Social impact means the positive changes that improve people’s lives and strengthen community wellbeing.

This includes both measurable outcomes – like better health, more jobs, safer communities or higher incomes, as well as some harder to measure changes, long-term improvements like connection, belonging, manaakitanga, agency and hope.

Describing these parts of social impact is about making the invisible visible…

I like to think of the iceberg analogy – where the impacts easily seen above the water are those we have tended to focus on, because they’re easier to measure, track and describe. The impacts below the water have often been ignored as they are less visible. But it is the mass and shape of the iceberg below the water that ensures it stays afloat. Similarly, the less visible impacts to our sense of belonging, connection, confidence and agency are not only important –  they’re the pre-conditions needed for meaningful improvements in the visible outcomes we see.

When we look at domains of wellbeing, there are always those addressing social and cultural impact that include these invisible elements. For example:

• The Treasury’s Living Standards Framework includes some aspects in ‘social capital’
• The Department of Internal Affairs Lottery Outcomes Framework includes some under ‘social cohesion’
• The Child and Youth Wellbeing Framework includes domains of ‘accepted, respected and connected’ and ‘involved and empowered’

The frameworks might use different labels, but they all acknowledge the core elements that influence our individual and community wellbeing. Sometimes these are referred to as the ‘co-benefits’ of a programme or service, but we know these are often the foundations for success in other outcomes.

We can start by naming these and acknowledging their contribution, and by measuring and describing the impacts. Many tools and techniques already exist, for example there are internationally recognised measures for hope, social connections, confidence, and happiness we could start using now. Additionally, Aotearoa has a rich set of our own tools and information to draw upon, that honour cultural values and lived realities, such whanaungatanga (relationships) and manaakitanga (uplifting others). Using these measures in our everyday practice starts to show the whole picture of impact.

Being able to make the invisible visible – by measuring, tracking, describing and telling the story of change – is critical to show the full story of the social impact we are having through our social and community services and activities. We are describing the full picture of the iceberg, not just what is easy to see.

Introducing Tūhono Impact

In July, Powerdigm launched Tūhono Impact to support organisations across Aotearoa New Zealand in building their ability to understand, track, and communicate their social impact in ways that are meaningful to them and their communities.

At the core of Tūhono Impact is He Mara Mahi Tahi, a practical, values-based approach using the metaphor of a shared garden to guide organisations through their impact journey. It walks users through five essential stages of meaningful impact:

• Planting intent
• Grounding success in community values
• Tracking progress
• Learning through reflection
• Sharing what’s growing

By including Aotearoa-based examples and practical worksheets, Tūhono Impact moves beyond a theoretical framework, to practical guidance that can help identify areas where more attention is needed.

It’s a tool providing resources to strengthen community capability in measuring and sharing social impact.

I hope it helps you to tell your own social impact story – making the invisible impacts and changes visible.

Ready to get started?

Start your journey with Tūhono Impact and begin mapping, measuring, and sharing the full picture of your community impact.

Catch up on our recent webinar where we introduce the tool and walk through how it supports values-based impact measurement.

Want to go deeper? Our upcoming hands-on, online workshop is designed to support you in applying Tūhono Impact to your own mahi. Spaces are limited to keep it practical and personal, so get in quick!

How is your organisation capturing the deeper story of change? We’d love to hear how you’re making the invisible visible in your mahi. Share your story kiaora@inspiringcommunities.org.nz