Evidencing Need and Impact: why your work matters

In today’s funding landscape, being able to clearly evidence why your work matters — and what difference it makes — is essential.

This practical, hands-on session will help you build your confidence using freely available tools and data to evidence both need and impact in funding applications, evaluations and reports.

During the session, you will learn about:

• The data contained on the Somerset VCFSE Insights Hub, and how to get involved and use data effectively through a live demonstration
• The Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and local data dashboards, and how to navigate and interpret them
• Tools such as CEF’s Data Finder, Google Scholar, and more to find relevant statistics and research
• Applying social value calculators and online impact tools to demonstrate outcomes and value for money
• Combining local stories with robust evidence to strengthen your case for support

Bring your questions and your projects, and leave the session with practical tools, live links and templates you can use straight away.

This session is designed for charities, community groups and social enterprises in Somerset who want to move from anecdotal to data-driven storytelling — without needing a research background.