When the components exist but don't work together...

Many research funding organisations already have:

• organisational strategies

• impact frameworks

• funding guidelines

• program plans

• grant application and reporting processes

• data and metrics

• board and government reporting requirements.

But these components may have been developed at different times, for different purposes and by different teams.

As a result:

• people may hold different understandings of what the program is trying to achieve

• funding design may not be clearly connected to intended impact

• data may be collected without a clear purpose or use

• reporting may focus heavily on activity and outputs

• grantees may experience significant reporting burden

• evaluation findings may not connect clearly to strategic priorities

• impact narratives may rely on isolated examples

The Funding to Impact Program Build creates a practical program-level impact system

It strengthens and connects:

• program purpose

• organisational strategy

• impact pathway

• data and metrics

• impact narrative

What the Program Build enables

It enables: 

• stronger alignment between the funding program and organisational strategy

• a shared understanding of program purpose and intended change

• clearer and more realistic expectations of impact

• better use of existing data and evaluation findings

• more focused and proportionate evidence collection

• reduced duplication and unnecessary reporting burden

• clearer communication with boards, executives, government and donors

• more credible impact narratives

• a repeatable model that can be adapted for other funding programs.

All without automatically requiring:

• a new technology platform

• another standalone impact framework

• additional reporting layers

• a complete replacement of existing systems

• starting from scratch.

Who the Program Build is for

The Program Build is designed for:

• national and international research funding organisations

• government research funding agencies and departments

• philanthropic funders with research portfolios

• disease-specific research charities

• mission-driven funders supporting research, translation, capability or system change.

It is particularly useful when:

• impact frameworks or reporting systems exist but are not producing a clear account of impact

• teams do not share a consistent understanding of what the funding program is intended to achieve

• program design is not clearly connected to organisational strategy

• reporting focuses heavily on activity and outputs

• data collection is creating burden without generating sufficient insight

• a program is being reviewed or redesigned

• the organisation wants a model that can later be adapted across other programs.

What you will receive

• Program Impact Charter, a common foundation for funding design, evidence, reporting and communication.

• Program Impact Pathway, a practical representation of the pathway from funding design to funded activity/outputs and reach and short, medium and longer-term impacts

• Data Matrix, a structured matrix focuses measurement on information that supports learning, decision-making, accountability and credible impact communication.

• Reporting Burden Review, a practical assessment of existing data and reporting requirements.

• Impact Narrative to support communication with boards, executives, government, donors and other stakeholders.

• Implementation Roadmap setting out immediate actions, longer-term improvement and practical 90-day priorities 

How it works

Phase 1: Establish and diagnose

We begin with:

• your Funding to Impact Diagnostic result

• a scoping conversation with the program sponsor and lead

• confirmation of the focal program 

• a rapid review of agreed documents.

This phase identifies where the funding to impact system is already strong, where alignment starts to weaken and which issues require attention during the program Build.

Phase 2: Align purpose and pathway

We facilitate structured workshops with relevant stakeholders to establish a shared understanding of:

• program purpose and intended beneficiaries

• strategic alignment

• Impact pathway 

• assumptions and contextual influences.

Phase 3: Align data and metrics

We examine whether current data, metrics, and reporting requirements are aligned with the intended impact pathway.

This includes considering:

• what information is already useful

• what is duplicated or underused

• where important evidence is missing

• which indicators are feasible and meaningful

• how reporting burden could be reduced

Phase 4: Build and operationalise

Quality for Outcomes translates the work into one operational funding or reporting artefact.

Draft outputs are provided for consolidated review.

Phase 5: Validate and hand over

We facilitate a final validation and handover session to:

• present the outputs

• resolve outstanding decisions

• agree on responsibilities

• prioritise implementation

• support internal use and communication.

The final outputs are then provided.

What it costs

Indicative investment for the Funding to Impact Program Build™ is from AUD $12,000.

The final investment depends on:

• program complexity

• number of documents

• number and size of stakeholder groups

• number of workshops

• maturity of existing systems

• the agreed operational artefact.

Following the initial scoping conversation and assessment, Quality for Outcomes provides a tailored proposal confirming scope, deliverables, responsibilities, timeframe and investment.