Why do not-for-profit organisations have to show evidence of impact?

Not-for-profit organisations are required to show public benefit - we take action and raise money in pursuit of our charitable objects and mission. This means that we are accountable to a number of different stakeholder groups for the impact that we have and for our effectiveness and efficiency in achieving that impact. ActionAid’s primary accountability is to “rights holders” - people living in poverty, injustice and discrimination. This means that we have to use resources wisely on projects that the people we work with want so that together we can make a difference. We are also accountable to our supporters and donors and need to be able to look them in the eye and explain how we have acted with courage and made a real and lasting difference.

As an example of demonstrating ActionAid’s impact, we explained to our supporters that rather than spending $20 to buy a school uniform so that one child can go to school in Kenya, we spent the US$20 taking two children to address the Kenyan parliament, and as a result the minister for education wrote to 17,800 primary schools saying a lack of a uniform should not prevent children from being accepted at school.