Establish your success measures

Success measures (also called evaluation measures or indicators) tell you what to track to see whether your activity is on track and what difference it made. There are two types: process measures, about how your activity was delivered, and impact measures, about the change it created.

Building success measures into your activity plan keeps you focused on what you want to achieve, because it gives you something concrete to assess. Track them throughout your activity, not just at the end.

Process measures

Process measures track how your activity is delivered: its reach (how many people take part) and its outputs (what is delivered). They show whether your activity is going to plan or needs adjusting. They’re usually numbers.

Examples for a prevention activity:

• number of workshops delivered
• number of community members who attend an event
• number of partners who promote support services at an event.

Once you’ve collected your process measures, ask:

• Was the activity delivered as intended?
• Did anything stop you delivering it the way you planned?
• How many people from your target audience (for example, young adults or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) took part?

Impact measures

Impact measures track the difference your activity has made. They help you build a picture of its influence on individuals, organisations and communities.

Examples for a prevention activity:

• increased knowledge about alcohol and other drug harms
• increased sense of connection to community
• intention to use alcohol and other drug health services.

Once you’ve collected your impact measures, ask:

• Did the activity achieve the impacts you wanted?
• Were there any unexpected impacts?
• How did the activity benefit your target audience?

Be realistic

Don’t overestimate attendance or set long-term impact measures, as this can make your goals unachievable.

Focus on what’s different because of your activity

Most activities deliver short-term impacts that, if sustained, can lead to long-term change.

Choose concepts your community understands

Use concepts like knowledge that are easy to understand. Concepts like “resilience” can be hard to understand or mean different things to different people, which can make your data unreliable.

Plan how you’ll collect your data

For example, if you’re counting workshop attendance, will you include people who leave or join halfway through, and who will do the counting? See Collect your data.

New to evaluation? Start with Getting started with evaluation. Local Drug Action Teams can also use the LDAT evaluation tools when planning their Community Action Plan.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026