Outcomes are measurable benefits for those you serve within a specified timeframe.
- Measurable means that the outcome is quantified. “How many” or “how much” are questions to ask when trying to measure an outcome. When you seek to change a policy, the quantity is one.
- “Benefits for those you serve” means that the outcome will truly benefit your constituency. By getting to this outcome, you should be achieving a portion of your mission. “Why are we doing this” is a question to ask when trying to figure out if the outcome is truly a benefit to the people you serve.
- “Within a specified timeframe” means that the outcome has a deadline or the benefit will be measured over a period of time. “When do we want to achieve this” is a question to ask when trying to attach a timeframe. Often, the work you do may build upon itself with short-term outcomes leading to long-term outcomes.
Learn More About Outcomes
Note: Just because something has a measure and a timeframe does not necessarily make it an outcome. For example: “200 trained volunteers by 2009” or “25 town hall meetings in 2010” are not outcomes. To turn these into outcomes, you would need to define what you hope to accomplish with the volunteers and the town hall meetings. Why are you training the volunteers? What are the town hall meetings meant to accomplish?
Consider: “There will be ‘200 trained volunteers by 2009′ who will facilitate ’25 town hall meetings in 2010’ to educate people about LGBT employment discrimination in order to add LGBT categories to the state employment nondiscrimination policy by 2011.” The outcome here is “adding LGBT categories to the state employment nondiscrimination policy by 2011.”
Policy Change Example: Influence 12 major corporations to adopt LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination policies by 2010.
Systems Change Example: After one year of this program, decrease the incidence of anti-LGBT bullying by 20 percent as reported in the statewide school climate survey.
What are the outcome requirements for the Gill Foundation?
To be considered for the Gill Foundation, the outcome should meet the following requirements:
- Be a policy or systems change in the areas listed on the website, or the initial implementation or enforcement of a policy change with resulting impact.
- Be a single outcome or a related sequence of outcomes focused on one of the funding areas listed on the website.
- Include realistic measures of success (if other than enactment), including appropriate deadlines or timeframes. As to the timeframe, note the following:
- Be achievable in no more than three years. If the long-term outcome extends beyond three years, also state an initial short-term outcome that will be achieved within three years.
- If the earliest outcome is not achievable in the first grant year, please state the benchmarks that will be achieved in each year of the project, including the first, until the long-term outcome is achieved.
