Measuring the community impact of Wungening Aboriginal Corporation
Measuring the community impact of Wungening Aboriginal Corporation
Wungening Aboriginal Corporation (Wungening) delivers alcohol and other drug and social services to its community in Perth.
Going beyond contractual requirements to understand impact
Wungening had measured its outcomes according to service contracts, but wanted a holistic impact measurement framework that showed how its activities helped it achieve its vision and purpose. Nous worked with Wungening to develop a bespoke impact measurement framework underpinned by best-practice program evaluation methods.
Nous and Wungening collaborated with stakeholders to develop an impact measurement framework
Nous’ openness to engage with an open heart and open mind set the conditions for a genuine relationship and co-creation. They were happy to spend time building the connection required for a values-led collaboration: doing with, rather than for.
Lindey Andrews
Stakeholders including Wungening’s board, executive, clients and staff as well as community Elders were engaged to synthesise perspectives on Wungening’s impact. From this, we developed:
- a theory of change that captures how Wungening works with its clients and community to improve health and wellbeing
program logic models that capture the activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts of Wungening’s services and the changes with broader impact - an impact measurement framework (a library of agreed measures, data sources and reporting methods) that will enable Wungening to understand and communicate the impact of its programs and activities and ensure programs align with long-term objectives
- an implementation plan for the framework, including guidance on monitoring and evaluation tools, consistent processes and systems and guidance on securing resources.
The framework will foster improvement and transparency
The impact measurement framework showed how Wungening’s impact can be measured at a program, service area and organisational level. When implemented, it will enable Wungening to demonstrate its impact beyond contractual reporting requirements and will be used to target internal resources, drive continuous improvement, and provide transparency and accountability to its clients and the community.
The project demonstrated that Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations can have broader social impacts through their work (underpinned by Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and being), their people and their economic and political influence.
What you can learn from Wungening
- An impact measurement framework enables an organisation to demonstrate its value and impact beyond contractual reporting requirements.
- Collaboration with stakeholders can provide insight into the impacts of an organisation’s services.
- An organisation’s services can have impacts that extend beyond their immediate customers to society more broadly.
