Measuring the impact of projects
Measuring impacts of projects were NGOs collaborated with public actors and institutions like UNIDO is not an easy task. Before entering in cooperative projects particular an NGO with a company, sponsor or institution it needs a common understanding and goal; therefore, the communication including “smart engagement” is the most important aspect. The first stage (stop or go) is to investigate what the NGO with the support of a private actor (a company or sponsor) or institution can do to achieve the required impact which is essential for a community or a country. A common goal, – that makes it easier -, is not necessary, but the basis for a good partnership are at least overlapping interests. The success of a project depends on a good project management and controlling having precise Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and Benchmarks for measuring project progress. For measuring the impact it needs to approach a tool-kit containing relevant impact indicators based on the Triple Bottom Line (People, Planet, Profit, PPP) and guidelines such as ISO 26000, UN Global Compact, Austrian Chamber of Commerce – CSR, Industrieellen Vereinigung (IV –resPact), etc., and naturally the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). To put the “tool-kit” to work it needs more time at the beginning of the project but is less complex and time-consuming at the end. Impact measuring will be successful when the expectations of the stakeholder (stakeholder-mapping, stakeholder-engagement) match. Besides to understand what each partner wants to do carry out, it requires trust between the partners and all stakeholders. The actors may have different backgrounds and goals and report to different stakeholders.About measuring indicators, benchmarks and project progress it needs to rely on local partners. Data collection and the executions of statistical and neuro-fuzzy analysis is an effective way to create indices, indicators, and benchmarks. It needs access to proper data available in institutions like Worldbank, UNIDO and private Data collection. To investigate the links between the impact and indicators, it requires the development of proper instruments for the tool-kit. The WU Vienna works on a project (GLOBAL VALUE – Assessing the Impacts of Multinational Corporations on GLOBAL Development and VALUE Creation) developing a toolkit for measuring the impact of Corporation in developing and emerging countries. It’s not clear to the author if this project includes the impact of NGOs as an important partner in a project. http://www.global-value.eu/
Roland Leithenmayr VfV
NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna 