Our Impact
What difference do we make?
Everything we do at Take Note is rooted in delivering maximum impact for the organisations we work with.
Through our Innovation Lab and Consultancy, we aim to support our partners to be as skilled, strategic, purposeful and resilient as possible, knowing that when organisations are set up for success, this directly benefits the individuals, communities, grantees and networks that they serve.
All projects across the Take Note portfolio are underpinned by rigorous and effective evaluation methods in order to understand the difference we make, using the findings to inform, evolve and improve our offer to partner organisations and the wider sector. In developing our evaluative practice, we have drawn on the expertise and input of a number of partners including leading charity sector think tank New Philanthropy Capital, The Centre for Cultural Value at Leeds University and King's College London.
What are our Keystone Outcomes?
Given the diversity of our partners and their individual needs, our outcomes vary widely from project to project. We have, however, identified three areas - our Keystone Outcomes - that underpin each Take Note partnership and the impact we deliver.
We increase skills, understanding and knowledge for teams and charity leaders, equipping each organisation with new ways of working and building a toolbox of practical resources and approaches that they can revisit time and again
We build the confidence of people we work with, empowering individuals and teams to succeed and thrive in their roles, long after we have gone
We foster a culture of clarity and purpose that boosts morale and motivation across the organisation
These Keystone Outcomes all contribute to Take Note’s ultimate outcome of empowering organisations to work most effectively and strategically to achieve maximum impact for their beneficiaries and communities.
“Take Note has influenced our thinking
and challenged us to improve.”
— Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Funder
Who have we reached?
Our portfolio of partner organisations and collaborators continues to grow and evolve.
To date we have worked with:
30 cross-sector organisations through our Innovation Lab
10 charity partners through our Consultancy, working across the arts, placemaking and refugee sectors
80 community, arts and social change organisations through our online tools workshops
Testimonials
Across our Innovation Lab and Consultancy, organisations have shared the ways in which Take Note’s support has impacted them strategically and enhanced the impact on their beneficiaries.
Here’s a sample!
“The support from Take Note made us focus and be clear about who we were targeting with the project. The initial planning session gave us the resources to be able to adapt throughout the project and was very much guided by the tools created by Take Note.”
“Take Note and collaborating with others allowed us to bring in new ideas, spark new work ... and challenged us to be braver about what we bring to families and young people.”
“Connections between partners felt very different, we were in a framework created to hold us as three organisations, and I have never experienced that to such an extent before. Something was different about this partnership. Take Note’s staff were actively involved, in a very caring and light touch way.”
“‘Working together with Take Note to develop our theory of change helped us massively. The project was not easy as we aimed to engage participants that needed a lot of support and care. Having developed a theory of change, we had a clearer sense of what outcomes we were hoping to see in participants and so we were able to develop a methodology for how we could measure whether these outcomes had been achieved.”
“Take Note helped us develop a collective point of view, and build a better understanding of what each organisation was doing in each area, what our impact was going to be and why we were needed. They helped us develop a common purpose and ensured a direction and structure for our work.”
“There needs to be support and recognition for the Take Note model within the sector at a higher level…. Towns and cities could benefit massively from this, it gets people to think about healthy collaboration.”
Want to know more?
Find details of how we’ve maximised impact with organisations and communities in our evaluation of our Innovation Lab projects:
