charity impact reporting - our 20 point checklist

It's based on our team's extensive experience working with UK charities, what clients and funders tell us, and the 2026 Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP). We've tested it with a wide range of clients.

For the full checklist with descriptions of each standard, recommended steps to achieving them and other impact reporting resources, please contact us.

Do you already have an impact report or impact section on your website or in your annual report? We offer a full review service using our checklist to generate recommendations for improvement.

Impact evidence should be easy to find and navigate and reported openly and objectively. 

1.1 Impact evidence is easy to find and navigate.

1.2 There is a description of the impact the charity is seeking to achieve and how it does so.

1.3 The report covers all of the charity’s main activities.

1.4 The evidence is communicated clearly.

1.5 The report is also forward looking.

Inputs, activities and their reach and quality, and outcomes - all crucial elements of an impact report - should be categorised correctly. 

2.1 It is clear what funding and other resources have enabled each activity.

2.2 The reach of activities is reported in a meaningful way.

2.3 The quality of activities is reported.

2.4 There is evidence of outcomes. 

2.5 Overall impact is summarised clearly.

Although not easy and requiring investment, charities should aspire to high standards of impact evidence and reporting. Settling for low quality evidence risks wasting scarce resources or even causing harm.

3.1 Both quantitative and qualitative evidence are reported.

3.2 The evidence has meaning beyond the charity.

3.3 Attempts have been made to establish cause and effect.

3.4 There is evidence for whether impact has been sustained.

3.5 The reader can judge the quality of the evidence presented.

Impact reporting should reflect the fact that charities support vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society.

4.1 Impact reporting reflects the diversity of the people the charity aims to support.

4.2 The evidence is co-produced.

4.3 The impact report is available in accessible formats.

4.4 People’s privacy and safety are maintained.

4.5 The report uses respectful and empowering language.