We’ve had to hit hold on Track Your Impact and the reason is really important
Hi friends,
We’ve had to hit hold on Track Your Impact and the reason is really important.
2020 hasn’t kicked off the way any of us thought it would. COVID-19 has stopped us all in our tracks. Our thoughts, prayers and support go out to our impact partners who are serving some of the most vulnerable communities with critical health, water, hygiene and sanitation services.
If the virus is not properly contained and managed in low-income communities, we know that disastrous health and economic consequences will occur. The work our partners are doing to prevent this from becoming a reality will save countless lives.
Why we started TYI, and why we’re hitting hold.
At Thankyou we work with partners who are big on impact. They collect high-quality evidence to demonstrate their approach works for the communities they are working in. They are regularly audited, and we invest significant time in reviewing each grant. From field visits, to Skype calls, to reviewing their monitoring and evaluation data, this information helps us assess whether vulnerable communities are being served with sustainable solutions.
An example of this is our partnership with One Heart Worldwide (OHW), an incredible organisation we’ve partnered with in the district of Khotang, in rural Nepal. While they report on activities such as the number of birthing centres upgraded or training sessions conducted, OHW also reports on impact. OHW’s impact goal is to see a decrease in the number of mothers and babies dying within the first month of birth. In a three-year period of implementing their holistic ‘network of safety’ approach in Khotang, they have observed an incredible reduction of 60% for both maternal and neonatal deaths.
We started Track Your Impact with the intent of sharing this information with you in an easy to digest, visual format that helps you see what the funding is doing. However, this requires more work by our partners in addition to the standard reporting a funder (that’s us!) requires.
Today, we’ve decided to hit hold on TYI to free up our partners’ time and resources to focus on saving lives.
A couple of things to note:
- 1. This will apply for all tracked products for FY20. Rest assured, the impact of our funding will still occur. Our partners will still be meeting our standard reporting requirements per grant. We will send a notification via your email in the second half of the year on where the money has gone to (and a final email to summarise the impact of our funding).
- 2. For all existing projects before FY20, you will still receive your final field reports.
Over the last 12 months, we’ve been thinking really hard about impact and how we most effectively continue to empower our partners. We’re not ready to launch it just yet, but in early 2021 we will be launching a new system.
While there is a lot that is changing at the moment, one thing that will never change is our commitment to partnering with world-class organisations to work together to see the end of global poverty and sharing that work with you.
Pete - CIO
