Measuring impact

Merlin would not be able to improve people's health care, train local medical workers, or save lives without the support of our donors. We believe that it is important to show our supporters just how much they have helped us to achieve, and in a format that works for them.

For corporate supporters, it is often important to have the results of a charitable project to share with all colleagues on the intranet, as well as the numbers crunched for the Board. One way we are able to do this is by using the London Benchmarking Group model. This is used by leading businesses worldwide to measure the inputs they put into charitable projects - time, gifts in kind and funds - plotted alongside all of the outputs and impacts. For Merlin projects this can mean the number of children vaccinated, the number of midwives trained, and by how much life expectancy has been improved for children under five.

You can learn more about the London Benchmarking Group model here.

Merlin is not a huge organisation, and that means we are able to respond creatively to our donors needs for reporting, reflecting their criteria and specific interests - whether they be a corporate donor, a foundation, or an individual.