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Research4 min read
Why We Stopped Leading With the Number of Programmes
Counting programmes measures our activity. Counting people measures our effect. A short note on why the Foundation changed what it reports.
For our first year we led with a number: eight programmes. It was true, and it was the wrong thing to lead with.
Activity is not effect
The number of programmes an organisation runs describes what it does. It says nothing about whether anything changed for anyone. A foundation can double its programme count and halve its effect.
Counting what you do is easy. Counting what changed is the actual work.
What we report now
- People reached — individuals who completed a programme, not attendance.
- Active volunteers — people contributing time in the current quarter.
- Schools engaged — institutions with an ongoing relationship, not one visit.
These are harder to collect and less flattering. That is the point. We would rather publish a smaller honest number than a larger meaningless one.
A note on the numbers you see
Where a figure is still being verified, we show a dash rather than an estimate. An unverified number that looks precise is worse than an obvious gap.
