In our first blog in this new series, we covered the foundations of the Impact Journey and its six stages, from Discovery to Amplification.
This time we take a brief look at the Discovery stage and how those entering this level can move beyond, to Understanding.
Are You at the Discovery Stage of the Impact Journey?
If any of the following sound familiar to you and/or your organisation, then you will likely find yourself at the very first stage of the journey. You might:
- Arrive looking to learn more about what impact reporting is in practice or wondering how to begin/improve your current practices
- Bring an interest in learning how to embed impact management
- Have some sort of reason to learn more about impact management – possibly board pressure, commitments or looming regulatory requirements
- Be curious around how impact management can benefit you personally, professionally or organisationally
- Seek confidence through a step by step path to success in impact management
- Be considering what good impact reporting looks like for you and what your impact goals are
If you think any of these points apply to you, then you are likely at the Discovery stage of the impact journey. During this phase you will be learning a lot about impact and impact management!
A good place to begin this education is with core foundations – understanding what impact is.
Moving Along the Discovery Stage
hivve provides a range of resources designed to guide you further along the Discovery stage.
To begin with, the first module of our CPD-accredited ImpactAcademy eLearning course gives an overview of the rudiments of impact, including theory of change and the logic model, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the evolution of impact assessment. This helps to contextualise some of the history and the development of impact management over time.
Our Resource Library provides a variety of different perspectives, from white papers to case studies about how organisations manage impact in their own environment.
It is also useful to begin to consider the impact reporting requirements in your sector. More information is available on our Impact page. Consider, for example, any frameworks that you might be looking to align to – such as SDGs.
Example for Academia: Research Assessments
For instance, in academia, one of the major contextual drivers for the adoption of impact management is the research assessment. Our Impact Consultant, Carlos Galan-Diaz, explains more below:
What to Do Next?
- Subscribe to our newsletter! Enter your email address at the bottom of this page to subscribe to our impact newsletter and stay up-to-date with developments.
- Consider our eLearning course! ImpactAcademy is available to access now – we are releasing a fully-updated version of module 1 for 2025 with exciting new updates
- Read/watch some more! Our Resource Library covers a wide range of impact information that can help you get to grips with the basics.
- Get in touch! Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you have – we can support you and your team to progress along the Discovery stage.
Progressing to the Understanding Stage of the Impact Journey
Next time we will examine the Understanding Stage in more depth. Stay tuned!