Measure your success
It is important to monitor and measure the success of your Community Action Plan activity, as it helps you see what went well, and what could be improved next time around.
Often community action to prevent and minimise alcohol and other drug-related harm is an ongoing process over many years. Measuring success is something to be done throughout the delivery of your Community Action Plan, not just at the end of your activity.
Measures of success (sometimes called indicators) indicate what needs to be measured in order to assess the activity’s success. They are markers of your activity’s progress and achievements. There are two main categories:
- Process measures relate to your Community Action Plan processes and how your activity is being delivered. They help you to monitor whether your activity is going well or needs to be modified – before it’s too late. Process measures focus on activity implementation (e.g. quality, or satisfaction), reach (e.g. the number of target audience affected by the activity), and outputs (e.g. what is delivered). Outputs are usually described numerically, such as number of events held or number of attendees.
- Impact measures relate to the difference your activity has made. They are used to measure short and medium-term effects (impacts) of your activity. Impact measures help you to build a picture of your activity’s influence on individuals, organisations and communities.
Measures of success need to be determined for each activity in your Community Action Plan’s activity. Groups are required to specify at least two process and two impact measures for each activity.
Find examples of measuring your success tools and further guidance.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s suite of toolkits also contain a range of other measures and tools. You may find these a useful starting point for developing your own.
