When you begin to conceptualize impact measurement, the first terms you will find are inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impact. These terms, which are the building blocks for impact measurement and often referred to as a "results framework", need not be confusing our intimidating. We've put together some fundamental definitions and some resources to help you begin to wrap your head around the framework of impact measurement.

Inputs: Refers to what you put into your program in order to achieve your goals. Examples can be trainings given to participants, grants distributed, or healthcare given.

Outputs: Refers to the direct result of your inputs (often referred to actions that can be counted). This term is not the impact, but instead what directly results from your efforts. Let's take, for example, an NGO offering basic healthcare services to rural communities through traveling clinics. The direct output of offering healthcare to these communities would be that a certain number of community members saw a doctor and/or received care for an ailment.

Outcomes: Refers to the meaningful changes that your inputs generate. Taking the healthcare NGO example discussed above, an outcome of the traveling clinic could be a less people died preventable deaths because community members were getting regular treatment for illnesses.

Impact: Refers to the longterm, often indirect, result of the inputs. Continuing with the healthcare NGO example, the impact would be a lower mortality rate for rural communities due to sustained visits of medical professionals to target communities over time.

Difference between Outcomes and Impact: Outcomes occur in the shorter term while impact is not often perceptible until later on, even after the program ends. Outcomes are direct results of specific inputs while impact can be more indirect and a result of all the inputs combined.

Resources for further reading:

• The Balance Small Business gives a closer look at these terms

• INTRAC discusses this topic in greater detail.

• BetterEvaluation offers a deep dive into outcomes and their importance.

• OECD offers a report looking into how to build your measurement framework based on these terms.