Examples of benefits / outcomes
The benefits or outcomes are the ultimate reason for doing something not the things we will do to achieve it.
Often it is possible to achieve a range of outcomes or benefits from a single project or series of activities. Some of these can be described as "Hard Outcomes" while others may be described as "Soft Outcomes".
Hard outcomes are those that can be directly measured and have a clear and definitive answer. Click here to view examples.
Soft Outcomes are those that cannot be directly measured and can often only be tested by asking people how they feel or think about something. That does not mean they are any less worthwhile, indeed they are often the most important benefits. Click here to view some examples.
In a funding bid you would also need to set a figure for these outcomes. More information on how to predict outcomes is provided in the section on calculating the benefits.
Examples of hard outcomes
These are outcomes that can be directly measured and have a clear and definitive answer. Examples of these include:
Reduction in recorded crime (of any sort)
Reduction in the number of 12 - 18 year olds who are victims of violent crime
Reduction in people over 70 burgled while at home
Increase the number of people able to live at home as opposed to requiring residential care
Number of people over 70 now supported in their own home that would have required residential care
Number of men over 80 now able to live in their own home that would have required residential care
Create new jobs
Number of jobs with salaries above the national average created
Number of new jobs in manufacturing created
Reduction in flooding
Reduction in the number of houses affected by flooding once every ten years
Reduction in the number people affected by flooding once every ten years
Reduction in the frequency of flooding in a named area
Increase in biodiversity
Increase the number of species recorded in the project area
Increase the recorded number of butterfly species in the project area
Reduction in the number of obese people
Reduction in the number of 5 - 11 year olds who are obese
Reduce the number of 40 - 50 year old men who are obese
Even with hard targets it is sometimes difficult to measure them. For instance you will have to find a way of tracking the people who you provide training to know whether or not they have got a job. It is also possible that you may rely on someone else to measure the outcomes and there is a time delay or over the time of a project they change the way that information is collected.
Examples of soft outcomes
These are called soft because they cannot be directly measured and can often only be tested by asking people how they feel or think about something. That does not mean they are any less worthwhile, indeed they are often the most important benefits, but it does mean that they are not measurable through hard statistics. Examples of these include:
Increased sense of safety amongst older people in the community
Number of people who feel more able to get a job
Number of people reporting a better quality of life even though they require care at home
Number of people satisfied by the service provided by a facility
Number of people feeling healthier
Number of people feeling happier and better supported.
These sorts of outcomes or benefits are often tested through surveys, questionnaires, focus groups and other activities.
As with hard outcomes / benefits these can be broken down to focus on specific group or locations.
Please note: If a funder is really keen on focusing on the outcomes then include the costs of monitoring or research of the outcomes as part of the project (see also Real Cost Recovery).
For information on how to measure outcomes look at the section on monitoring and evaluation.
