Outcome measures and results

Outcomes are what you promised the funder you would achieve, and what actually happened. Set the measures up when the award lands, record figures as they come in, and the reporting is largely written by the time the report is due.

Setting up a measure

1. Open the grant and go to Schedule & work → Outcomes.
2. Click Add measure.
3. Fill in the fields below, then save.

The two settings that decide whether your number is right

Two fields look technical and are not optional detail — get either wrong and the measure will report a plausible figure that is simply false.

Direction — which way is good.

• Higher is better — people served, sessions delivered.
• Lower is better — dropout rate, waiting time, readmissions.

"Reduce the dropout rate to 5%" is met by going below its target. Treated as a higher-is-better measure, a program that halved its dropouts would be reported as badly short.

Aggregation — how periods combine.

• Adds up over the award — period results are summed. Use for counts of people, sessions or items. Four quarters of 25 is 100.
• Latest reading counts — the most recent period stands alone. Use for rates, percentages and averages. Four quarters of 60% is 60%, not 240%.

Recording a result

1. Click Add result on the measure.
2. Set the period the figure covers, and the actual value.
3. Add a narrative — the context a number alone does not carry.
4. Attach evidence: a note, or a document already on the grant.
5. If the figure was filed as part of a reporting requirement, link it to that requirement. The result is then traceable to the report it went into.
6. Save.

How progress is shown

Current value is calculated from your results using the aggregation you chose. A measure is on target when the current value has reached the target in the direction that counts.

A progress percentage is shown only for higher-is-better measures. For a lower-is-better measure there is no honest single percentage — "reduce dropouts from 20% to 5%, currently at 8%" is neither 160% nor 62%, and either figure would mislead. The values and the on-target flag say more than a manufactured percentage would.

A measure past its target date and not on target is flagged, so it surfaces while there is still time to say something about it.

Related

• Requirements and the grant schedule
• Award terms and compliance
• Closing out and renewing a grant