January 6, 2025
In the Idea and Impact section of the application form, we ask you to tell us about the outcomes you expect to result from your project, the targets you aim to achieve, how you will get there, and how you’ll measure your progress.
We encourage all applicants to:
- Read our list of Common Outcomes and Measures below. These outcomes and measures have been commonly used by past grant recipients and are matched to CBF’s Development & Operations (D&O) and Content grant program objectives. We are providing this list as a starting point for applicants to think about – as many people find this easier than having to identify their outcomes and measures from scratch
- Check out the D&O & Content examples below of how the common measures and outcomes can be applied to various projects
- Read Measuring Outcomes – Key Concepts which provides key definitions and explanations on what is an ‘outcome’, ‘measure’, ‘target’ and other key concepts when it comes to your CBF grant application
Want to discuss your ideas for outcomes and measures, or get some help with your draft? Get in contact with a member from our Grant Support Team – we’d love to chat (but don’t leave it till the last minute!)
Here is a list of some good examples of tried and tested ways to measure outcomes, which may help get you started and guide your thinking. You may wish to use one or more of these suggestions in the Outcomes and Measures of success tables in your application, or develop your own specific outcomes and measures as relevant for your project.
The following outcomes and measures should only be used when:
- It reflects a core intended outcome of your project – i.e. what difference your project aims to make, and for who; and
- It is practical to implement – i.e. you are clear about how you (or someone else in your team) will collect the evidence needed to confidently measure and report on the result.
These measures are all quantitative (number based) so the results will be numerical. You need to nominate at least two quantitative measures of success in your application.
CBF grant category objectives | Common types of outcomes | Common measures |
|---|---|---|
| Strengthen governance policies and practices that support longer term thinking | New or improved plans/policies |
|
| Enhance capacity and capability that drives sustainability | Increased participation |
|
| People have the right skills |
| |
| Positive participant experiences |
| |
| Increase resilience through preparations for unexpected change | Improved equipment and infrastructure |
|
| Increased financial resources |
| |
| Deepen engagement with identified communities | Enhanced community engagement |
|
| Increased participation |
| |
| Expand partnerships to maximise opportunities | Increased partnerships |
|
| Increased financial resources |
| |
| Develop and embed inclusive and accessible practices | Improved policies, infrastructure or equipment |
|
| More diverse participation |
|
Here are some worked examples for a range of D&O grant applications and projects, which illustrate how the common types of outcomes and measures can apply in different contexts, organisations and projects. They also suggest ways to collect data and provide examples of how a project’s activities help achieve the specific outcomes.
Remember, these are just examples of how the common measures and outcomes can be applied to various projects. We encourage you to think about your own project, what you’re trying to achieve, and what is practical to do – and tailor your answers to suit!
A grant to support operating costs (transmission and utilities) and purchase a new back-up generator:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increased financial resources – have 2 months of operating expenses saved in reserves | Increase resilience through preparations for unexpected change | Grant money will help cover monthly bills, so we can spend less on monthly costs and build our reserves to prepare for the unexpected | $ amount in reserves by end of the financial year | 1,500 | 5,000 | Monthly financial reports from Treasurer |
| Improved equipment and infrastructure to reduce the effects of power outages | Increase resilience through preparations for unexpected change | Installing a back-up power generator so we can stay on air when the power goes out – e.g. storms, network issues, etc | Number times off-air for more than 2 minutes, per year | 14 | 2 | Fault log |
| Upskill our volunteers to use and maintain the generator | Enhance capacity and capability that drives sustainability | Training all production/tech volunteers how to check and use the generator | Number of people trained | 0 | 8 | Training log |
| More positive volunteer experiences | Enhance capacity and capability that drives sustainability | Improving our equipment and training volunteers will empower them to help solve problems, and reduce hassles for them | % of volunteer survey responses that agree or strongly agree they are satisfied with their volunteering experience | 67 | 80 | Annual volunteer satisfaction survey |
Employing a part-time Community Engagement Coordinator to build the station’s local relationships and profile:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increased participation to build our team of paid staff | Enhance capacity and capability that drives sustainability | By advertising, hiring and training a new staff member in the Community Engagement role | Community Engagement Coordinator employed at least 2 days per week | 0 | 1 | Employment contract |
| Enhanced community engagement – presence at more local events | Deepen engagement with identified communities | The Community Engagement Coordinator will reach out to all our local community events to increase our presence | Number of OBs / community events that we are involved in for the year | 2 | 5 | Community Engagement Coordinator (CEC) to keep a “Stakeholder Spreadsheet”, plus newsletter articles about OBs |
| Increased partnerships with local organisations | Expand partnerships to maximise opportunities | CEC will have dedicated time to contact local organisations, build relationships, and explore how we can work together for mutual benefit | Number of new partnerships with local community services organisations and potential sponsors | 0 | 3 | Stakeholder Spreadsheet |
| Increased financial resources by growing our membership base | Deepen engagement with identified communities | Building our networks and doing more OBs will increase community awareness of the station. Plus we will sign people up at events/OBs. | Number of financial members by end of the year | 226 | 350 | Membership database |
A project to strengthen governance and long-term planning, and build station resilience:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| We have the right skills and knowledge to manage the organisation responsibly and sustainably | Strengthen governance policies and practices that support longer term thinking | The Strategy HQ governance course will be provided to all our Committee, plus 4 other volunteers who have informal leadership/ coordination roles. | Number of people trained in governance skills | 2 | 14 | Course completion records from Strategy HQ |
| New strategic plan developed and endorsed by our members | Strengthen governance policies and practices that support longer term thinking | The Strategy HQ consultant will work with our Committee and volunteers to develop the plan. We will bring it to the AGM for member endorsement. | Strategic plan developed and formally adopted | 0 | 1 | AGM minutes |
| New and improved policies | Strengthen governance policies and practices that support longer term thinking | Our Committee will review the set of policies and update them after the Governance training | Number of policies reviewed/improved, and new ones developed | 0 | 8 | Policy register, and Committee meeting minutes |
| More diverse participation by women, people with disability and young people | Develop and embed inclusive and accessible practices | Developing and implementing a Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and pro-actively recruiting more diverse volunteers | Number of volunteers who are women, have a disability, and/or under 30 years old | 3 | 7 | Volunteer database |
Here is a list of some good examples of tried and tested ways to measure outcomes, which may help get you started and guide your thinking. You may wish to use one or more of these suggestions in the Outcomes and Measures of success tables in your application, or develop your own specific outcomes and measures as relevant for your project.
The following outcomes and measures should only be used when:
- It reflects a core intended outcome of your project – i.e. what difference your project aims to make, and for who; and
- It is practical to implement – i.e. you are clear about how you (or someone else in your team) will collect the evidence needed to confidently measure and report on the result.
These measures are all quantitative (number based) so the results will be numerical. You need to nominate at least two quantitative measures of success in your application.
CBF grant category objectives | Common types of outcomes | Common measures |
|---|---|---|
| Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | Increased participation |
|
| More diverse participation |
| |
| Positive participant experiences |
| |
| Amplify and reflect the voices, cultures and languages of Australia’s diverse communities | Diversity of content |
|
| Build audiences by supporting creativity, excellence and innovation in community media content production | Increased audience/ community reach |
|
| High quality content |
| |
| Increased support from sponsors |
| |
| Expand partnerships to explore new forms of storytelling across topics and platforms | New and strengthened partnerships and collaborations |
|
Here are some worked examples for a range of Content grant applications and projects, so you can see how the common types of outcomes and measures can apply in different contexts, organisations and projects. They also suggest some ways to collect data, and provide examples of how a project’s activities help achieve the specific outcomes.
Remember, these are just examples of how the common measures and outcomes can be applied to various projects. We encourage you to think about your own project, what you’re trying to achieve, and what is practical to do – and tailor your answers to suit!
A new 12-part series featuring local CALD guests, sharing stories of migration and music from their homelands:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diversity of content – more local CALD voices on air | Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | By working with the partner organisations, we can send targeted promos/invitations to new language groups | Number of guests/ interviewees who are from CALD backgrounds | 1 | 16 | Program records and volunteer database |
| Diversity of content – more local community languages on air | Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | By working with the partner organisations, we can send targeted promos/invitations to new language groups | Number of languages other than English being broadcast on our station | 2 | 4 | Program descriptions for each episode highlight which language/s are featured
|
| New partnerships and collaborations | Expand partnerships to explore new forms of storytelling across topics and platforms | Have regular meetings with the 2 migrant/CALD community support organisations in our region | Number of relationships developed with migrant/CALD organisations | 0 | 2 | Project Coordinator meeting notes, plus copies of promos / articles published by the partner orgs
|
| More diverse participation at our station | Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | Offer the new guests other ongoing volunteer roles/training ops, and sign them up to our newsletter | Number of volunteers from CALD communities who get involved with the station after doing their program | 0 | 2 | Volunteer database |
A new TV program supporting and training young First Nations people to produce a music show:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Increased participation by young First Nations people | Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | We will invite all the young First Nations people in our database to the training program, and also advertise it on social media | Number of young people upskilled completing introductory production and presenter training courses
| 0 | 12 | Training attendance records |
| Diversity of content – more First Nations music on TV | Amplify and reflect the voices, cultures and languages of Australia’s diverse communities | The training program is very hands-on, participants will work in pairs to develop and produce an episode | Number of episodes broadcast | 0 | 6 | Program records |
| Positive participant experiences | Increase community participation and engagement in community media that is inclusive and accessible to all | Having a First Nations trainer running the program and supporting the young people in a culturally safe environment | % of positive feedback responses from our young participants – rating the overall experience as “good” or “excellent” | 0 | 85% | Survey monkey – we will do one after week 3 to see if any improvements are needed, and then at the end of the training |
| High quality content and recognition in the wider community media space | Build audiences by supporting creativity, excellence and innovation in community media content production | 2 of our experienced volunteer producers will help the participants prepare and refine their programs. We will enter the FNMA and CBAA awards. | Number of award nominations that we are shortlisted for | 0 | 2 | Award entry documents from FNMA, CBAA, etc |
A local news/information and current affairs program, now aiming to grow after being on air for 2 years:
Your outcome | Grant objectives | How will you achieve your outcome? | Measure | Current position | Target | Data collection method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New partnerships and collaborations through meeting and interviewing more groups/ leaders working on local issues | Expand partnerships to explore new forms of storytelling across topics and platforms | Bringing on board a 3rd journalism student means we can get out to more events and do a lot more follow-up interviews/stories
| Number of OBs / community events covered over the year | 1 | 5 | Program records |
| Increased community reach through social media | Build audiences by supporting creativity, excellence and innovation in community media content production | Working with the station’s comms volunteers to have a more organised and regular schedule of stories/content for facebook and instagram | Number of social media followers on facebook and Instagram (combined) | 278 | 500 | Instagram and Facebook stats |
| Increased community reach – growing our regular listener base | Build audiences by supporting creativity, excellence and innovation in community media content production | Covering more local community events and issues, and a better social media presence, means we will attract more listeners. | Number of listeners – average per episode over the year | 460 | 1000 | Listener stats from our website – streaming and on-demand
|
| Increased support from sponsors | Build audiences by supporting creativity, excellence and innovation in community media content production | By increasing our listener base and coverage of local issues. This makes us more appealing to sponsors. | $ of sponsorship income received for this program over the year | 2,000 | 3,000 | Sponsorship agreement/s |