Guidance
2. Write and Review
Your organization’s approach to writing your Charting Impact Report will be as individual as your make-up and mission, but our pilot testing has revealed methods that can make the process go more smoothly.
Though you may select one person to champion the process and manage the writing, we encourage you to involve multiple people from across the organization as you respond to the five questions and review drafts of your report. Our pilot suggested that the most successful reports were developed with input from five to six individuals over a period of two weeks, resulting in 7 to 14 cumulative staff hours of effort.
Developing a Charting Impact report is an opportunity to refine your organization’s approach to impact. As you write and review, we encourage you to:
- Think about how your answers to the five questions are connected to one another. Your complete report should tell a cohesive story about how your near-term activities are advancing your long-term goals.
- As you connect the dots between where you are now and where you want to be, consider your assumptions. What do you need to explain as you respond to these questions? Which of your assumptions should you articulate?
- Include specific examples and measures where appropriate. Though you won’t be able to detail everything you have done or are doing, readers appreciate having your statements grounded in specific examples.
Once you’ve crafted your report, we invite you to share it with your CEO and with your board chair for their comments and approval. The online interface enables you to indicate that they have reviewed your report on the “Review and Submit” page, which appears after you’ve entered your answers to the five questions. You can also send your report to 10 key stakeholders to request their anonymous feedback through an automated survey, further validating the accuracy of your report.
Your published Charting Impact Report will show that these three reviews have been completed.
