In response, a team at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), with support from Bendigo Bank, has developed the Social Impact Toolbox – an open digital platform for social impact measurement and evaluation, where NFPs can receive free training, access case studies and find reliable and validated frameworks and measures.
The toolbox helps clarify what to measure, and how to measure it, says Professor Bronwen Dalton, who led its development. Prof Dalton is Director of the Master of Not-for-Profit and Social Enterprise Management at UTS Business School and the Head of its Department of Management.
“Previously, a lack of a standardised approach to evaluation, along with a lack of resources and staff in many not-for-profit organisations meant small to medium not-for-profits were locked out of important funding conversations,” she says. “We’ve tried to demystify and democratise that process.”
Ruff Sleepers cares for dogs on the street. Photo: Lesley Parker
Prof Dalton says the toolbox has two goals. First, more frequent and better evaluation will help the sector understand what works and what doesn’t in their interventions to support those in need. Second, meaningful and rigorous measurement will help smaller charities compete with larger organisations for access to the limited pool of government and philanthropic funding.
There are some 700,000 NFPs in Australia and the vast majority – around 90 per cent – are small, she explains. Being close to their communities, they are often very effective. However, they may struggle to compete with larger organisations that can afford expensive consultants’ reports to communicate their impact. “By building their capacity we can help them survive the funding wars and continue to have a tremendous impact,” she says.
In its first year, the Social Impact Toolbox site attracted around 10,000 visitors, securing more than 2000 enrolments for its free courses.
“We’ve been able to come together as a board and really articulate and clarify what it is that this organisation is here to do,” board member Anna Dear says of the impact of the Toolbox on the Sydney Street Choir, which is the subject of a PACE Foundation-funded case study of its use.
The next case study is likely to involve an Indigenous arts body. Meanwhile, the Nelson Meers Foundation has funded a report outlining how arts and culture organisations can measure their social impact.
Ultimately, lifting capability and effectiveness among NFPs will mean collective impact for society, Prof Dalton says, as these organisations become better able to reduce inequality, support health and improve opportunities for children, for instance.
In another impactful project in the NFP sector, the UTS Master of Not-for-Profit and Social Enterprise Management program has spawned a not-for-profit organisation that helps homeless people care for their pets.
Ruff Sleepers was founded by Prof Dalton along with Master’s student Linda Castellazzi and Tully Rosen from UTS Startups. It provides care and grooming for “dogs on the street”, knowing how important pets are to the welfare of the homeless. It also provides education and advocacy on the benefits of allowing pet owners to keep their pets with them when they are housed.
Prof Dalton says the bond between homeless people and their pets can be so strong they will decline crisis, temporary and even permanent accommodation if it means giving up their “best and perhaps only friend”. She witnessed this personally while working in the not-for-profit sector. People can become homeless in the first place because they can’t find a landlord who will let them keep a pet.
There’s evidence that the relationship between homeless people and companion animals is even stronger than in the general public, Prof Dalton says. “Research suggests companion animal ownership is effective at reducing loneliness and that some animal-owning homeless people don’t engage in substance abuse or high-risk behaviour because of a sense of responsibility for their companions.”
In an environment of domestic violence, “You can't have people staying in violent situations because they don't want to cause more pain to their children by separating them from their dog”, she adds.
Ruff Sleepers has washed more than 300 dogs since inception, distributed some $50,000 worth of pet food and medicines, and during COVID-19 provided some 250 “pet relief” packs to crisis support agencies.
They were among a group of advocates who recently petitioned the NSW Government to change tenancy legislation, securing a commitment that having a pet will no longer be grounds for denying accommodation in strata title properties.
Master’s students have been able to work in and on the Ruff Sleepers project as part of their studies of how a NFP operates.
Together, programs like the Toolbox and Ruff Sleepers are tackling challenges for organisations and communities, providing solutions that have impact for the sector and for the people they serve.
Research team
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Head of Department (Management)
Faculty
- UTS Business School
Funded by
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Bendigo Bank
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PAYCE Foundation
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Nelson Meers Foundation
