Quality for Outcomes - Research Funding Impact and Reporting

Research Funding Impact and Reporting

Strengthen how research funding is designed, how evidence is collected and how impact is communicated

We help government, philanthropic and not-for-profit research funding organisations connect funding purpose, strategy, program design, impact pathways, data and reporting so they can make better funding decisions and clearly explain their impact.

For research executives, strategy and impact teams, and staff who design, manage or evaluate research funding programs.

Discuss a current funding challenge

Why demonstrating the impact of research funding is difficult

Research funding organisations are increasingly expected to show not only what they funded, but what their investments enabled and how they contributed to organisational priorities, research capability and longer-term impact.

Most funders already have strategies, program guidelines, assessment criteria, reporting requirements, data and impact stories. The difficulty is that these elements may have been developed at different times, for different purposes or by different teams and may not work together as a coherent whole.

This can lead to:

unclear or inconsistent expectations about what a funding program is intended to achieve
weak connections between organisational strategy and funding program design
reporting requirements that create burden without producing enough useful evidence
data and metrics that do not reflect the changes the funding can reasonably influence
difficulty bringing evidence together across programs.

This is not simply a measurement problem. It is a problem of alignment across strategy, funding design, evidence and reporting.

When we can help

Our support may be useful when your organisation is:

designing or reviewing a research funding program
revising funding guidelines, assessment criteria or reporting requirements
trying to reduce reporting burden while retaining useful data
aligning a funding program with organisational or research strategy
bringing together fragmented data, evaluation findings and impact stories
responding to questions from a board, executive, government agency or donor about the value and impact of research investment.

You do not need to identify the right service before contacting us. We begin with the organisational decision or practical problem you are facing and help determine the most useful scope.

Discuss a current funding challenge

If you prefer, email us with a brief description of the funding program or reporting challenge you are working through.

How we can support your organisation

You do not need to redesign your entire funding approach at once. Support can be scoped to one defined issue, a complete funding program, a portfolio of programs or team capability. We begin by understanding the challenge and organisational context, then help determine the most useful support.

Address one priority issue in one funding program

The Funding to Impact Sprint™ helps your team clarify one defined issue, strengthen one practical program output and establish a focused implementation roadmap.

Best suited when one part of your funding approach needs attention and your organisation has the capacity to implement the agreed next steps.

Explore the Funding to Impact Sprint

Understand impact across a funding portfolio

The Funding to Impact Portfolio Build™ connects multiple funding programs to shared strategic priorities, impact themes, evidence and reporting.

Best suited when your organisation needs to understand and communicate the collective impact of its research funding portfolio.

Explore the Funding to Impact Portfolio Build

Align one complete funding program

The Funding to Impact Program Build™ strengthens the connections between program purpose, organisational strategy, impact pathways, evidence, reporting and impact communication.

Best suited when several components are disconnected or stakeholders do not share a consistent understanding of what the program is intended to achieve.

Explore the Funding to Impact Program Build

Build your team's capability

Funding to Impact: Smarter Evidence, Lighter reporting is a professional-development option for staff who design, manage or evaluate research funding programs.

Best suited when you are collecting data but still struggle to explain the difference your investments are making.

Explore Funding to Impact: Smarter Evidence, Lighter Reporting

Our approach and expertise

The Funding to Impact System

Quality for Outcomes developed the Funding to Impact System to help research funding organisations build impact capacity by strengthening and connecting core components needed to design for and demonstrate impact. The methodology examines five connected elements:

1. Purpose. Is there a shared understanding of why the funding program exists, what it is intended to enable and whose needs it is designed to address?

2. Strategic alignment. Is the program clearly connected to organisational strategy, research priorities and intended impact?

3. Impact pathway. Starting with the design of the funding program, how could the funding realistically contribute to changes in capability, policy or practice, improved outcomes for communities, or other intended impacts?

4. Data and metrics. Does data collection focus on useful and feasible evidence of the changes the program can reasonably influence?

5. Impact narrative. Can the available evidence be brought together to explain the program’s impact?

We apply the methodology to existing strategies, programs, documents, evidence and operating context. It provides a structured approach to analysis and decision-making without imposing a standardised model. You can read more here.

Prefer to explore your starting point first?

Use the free Funding to Impact Diagnostic to identify a possible starting point for strengthening your funding design, evidence or reporting. The Diagnostic is an optional self-reflection tool. It is not an audit, score or prerequisite for working with us.

➡️Take the free diagnostic

Developed by people who understand research funding, impact and evaluation

Dr Mel Craike and Dr Bo Klepac, founders of Quality for Outcomes have worked across the research funding system as researchers, grant applicants and recipients, grant reviewers, advisors, evaluators and impact specialists.

We understand the pressure organisations face to demonstrate the value of their research investment. Executives, governing bodies, governments, donors, partners and communities increasingly want clearer evidence of what research funding enables, while funding teams often work with fragmented systems, limited resources and competing reporting demands.

Our experience within universities and across the research funding system gives us insight into both sides of the process: how funding is designed and assessed, and how researchers experience and respond to funding requirements

Our approach helps research funding organisations bring strategy, funding design, evidence and impact narratives together, strengthening their capacity to make informed funding decisions and demonstrate impact.

Explore our blog page for practical insights on research funding design, impact and evaluation.

Discuss a current funding challenge

If your organisation is reviewing a funding program, reconsidering its reporting requirements or seeking a clearer account of impact, we would be pleased to discuss the challenge with you.

Discuss a current funding challenge

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