Outcomes and Impacts Pathway Tool
This tool is for the quick and easy creation of outcomes and impacts pathways. You can build up the elements and then link them with arrows. The process should take around an hour. Completed pathways can be printed and saved to your computer as a PDF. You can also opt to share your pathway with other users of the tool through the LBRO website.
The key reason for using this tool is to clarify the benefits your activities deliver to businesses and consumers. Means of assessment can be specific to the needs in your local area.
Designing an outcomes and impacts pathway basically involves building a logical sequence of your activity:
- Inputs - What resources are needed?
- Activities - What is being done?
- Outputs - By what means is it done?
- Outcomes - What is being achieved?
- Impacts - What are the long-term benefits?
Associated partners or indicators may be linked to these main elements, while the questions can equally well be phrased in future tense for proposed initiatives.
To give a simple example, let's say that there have been break-ins on a housing estate due to residents leaving ground floor windows open during hot weather. In response, the local council, working with the police, provides advice on security at an event at the community centre, and posts an information leaflet to homes. The effectiveness of this work is assessed by monitoring the reduction in burglaries. The resulting pathway could be:
