Outcomes and milestones
On the application form we ask you to state five outcomes your project specifically will achieve (or three outcomes if you are requesting less than £60,000). These outcomes will be used to measure the success and progress of your project; therefore do not simply restate the objectives of Ecominds. You can get support not only from our Guidance Notes Two (Section 8.4) but also from your local CVS (or similar infrastructure organisation) and the Lottery Funding officers within your local council.
Outcomes are the changes and differences that projects can make over time. It's the result of what you do rather than the activities or services you provide. You must identify outcomes and continue to work towards achieving these during the project. You must be clear about your outcomes, both general and specific, and how you hope to achieve them.
Milestones are clearly defined steps along the way to achieving your outcomes. They are the services and activities that you will provide in order to achieve your outcomes. They must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and have a time scale to let you know you are on track to achieveing your objectives.
Some examples of general outcomes could be:
- involved mental health service users (MHSUs) at all levels of the project
- improved health or personal care
- increased capacity of services
- promoted good relationships.
An example of a specific outcome and its related milestones would be:
Outcome: The involvement of MHSUs at all levels of the project
Milestones: Within 6 months we will:
- Recruit a minimum of 5 MHSUs to the project.
- Set up feedback systems for MHSUs to input ideas and give views on project activity and management. This will include how ideas and comments will be assessed and implemented.
- Provide appropriate training to help MHSUs become involved at all levels of the project, such as management committees.
The points below will help you develop your outcomes.
- Consult with other people such as staff. Everyone will have different ideas about what outcomes are most important to the project.
- What outcomes can you achieve in the lifetime of the project? Longer-term outcomes may not be achievable within the period of the grant.
- Despite working towards positive outcomes, you may also end up with some negative outcomes. Identify what these may be and take necessary actions to ensure they don't occur.
- Use words relating to change or difference such as improve, decrease, reduce, expand, develop, sustain and so on.
- Avoid words such as support, engage, encourage, enable, help and so on.
- Ecominds want to know how our money will help people, not what it will allow a project to do. Have people's lives been changed through Ecominds funding?
When considering outcomes, think about:
- What would make you think, 'we've been successful and made a difference'?
- Imagine a typical client when they first come to your project, and then when they leave. How might their lives have changed?
- Not all outcomes are changes, but are still the effects of your project, ror example keeping a situation stable or preventing someone from harm.
- Keep the wording of your outcomes simple and clear by describing each outcome individually and avoiding repetition. This will help you be clear about what you want to happen and how you will collect information about it.
Prioritising outcomes
- Keep things simple by only monitoring the outcomes that tell you the most about your progress.
- Ecominds only expects you to collect enough information so we can see that you reached each of your milestones and achieved your outcomes.
- Make sure you report on the outcomes of the project, not on those of the organisation as a whole.