It is crucial to communicate the difference you made to the people you are trying to help, or to the issue you are trying to improve by your idea or growing business.
This communications can take many forms:
- reports to funders, supporters, investors, and commissioners;
- board reports, management information, and organisational reviews;
- internal communications with staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries; and
- fundraising and communications material, such as websites, brochures and leaflets.
- social media and other digital forms of communication
Here are some simple tips:
1. Show the human impact
Always remember the human stories behind the statistics. You may have many followers on your social media accounts but what does that mean to your service/product users? Go beyond the figures and show a face with a name.
2. Use case studies
One great quote from a service or product user on how their life has improved because of your work can be more effective than ten pages of facts and figures. Tell a story. Use images, video and spoken word rather than a printed report.
Don’t forget to let the people who benefit also speak for themselves by inviting service users to talk about your impact in their own words.
3. Ditch the jargon
If you’re communicating to a non-specialist audience then use plain language to make what you’ve achieved crystal clear.
4. Get the right images
Provide photographs or infographics that tell a story or illustrate your work in action.
5. Pick great statistics
Pick out the statistics which best showcase your impact.
6. Round up your results
However, never be tempted to over claim, and always include the percentage in brackets for transparency’s sake.
Roadmap Sustainability Startegy
Here is a resource- the roadmap for sustainability strategy
Roadmap
Roadmap Sustainability Strategy