4. Clarifying aims, objectives, outputs and outcomes
4. Clarifying aims, objectives, outputs and outcomes
Clarifying your aims and objectives at the outset and making sure that everyone involved is signed up to them, will help you to explain what your project is going to achieve to a wider audience.
The aim is a one liner that gives a flavour of what you are doing and for who. The objectives are then the key aspects that you will deliver to achieve your aim. They need to be tangible and measurable and will be linked directly to outputs and outcomes.
As you develop your project make sure that you stay true to your primary objectives. You may be able to highlight aspects of your work to fit with specific funder’s requirements, but always keep a strong focus on the core of what you and your organisation cares about.
It is worth spending some time discussing your objectives, outputs and outcomes, to make sure that everyone involved in your project agrees what you want to achieve and can clearly see how to approach the project.
Examples of clarifying aims, objectives, outputs and outcomes
An aim is a concise statement which summarises what your project will achieve overall.
For example:
‘Creating a safe and welcoming space for young people to meet and learn new skills’ ‘Developing a series of new walking and cycling trails for community and visitor use.’ ‘Exploring creative and sustainable approaches to supporting people with dementia’.
Objectives give more detail and link to the outputs and outcomes you want to achieve, for example:
| Objective | Outputs | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
10 skills workshops run per year | Increased skills evidenced by the young people attending the project |
| 120 people attending workshops | Increased numbers of people engaging with skills training and stating that they have benefitted from the project | |
| 5 training events covering creative skills for young people annually | ||
|
| Objective | Outputs | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Running a successful Volunteer Programme | 20 new volunteers recruited and trained annually |
|
| Objective | Outputs | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Providing accessible, affordable and welcoming health and well-being activities, with a focus upon inclusivity and engagement with the hardest to reach groups | 500 people accessing health and well being activities, including 100 from hardest to reach groups and individuals | People accessing the project state that they have improved health and well being |
| Objective | Outputs | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver a high quality community owned asset for the benefit of the community | Building purchased and renovated successfully | Sustainable building owned and managed by the community to provide required services |
| Strong community cohesion, pride and sense of place |
| Objective | Outputs | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Employ and manage a staff team to deliver the project effectively | 3 new full time equivalent jobs provided at the Living Wage | Increased employment opportunities locally |
The outputs and outcomes can be monitored, measured and reported on, to show what you are delivering.
You may want to show your objectives, or other text about your project as a word cloud - WordClouds.com
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