Project Results: Outputs, Outcomes, Impact

Project results are the changes or effects expected to take place after implementing the project. The results are generally positive improvements to the lives of the beneficiaries.

Results are divided into three types:

  1. Outputs
  2. Outcomes
  3. Impact

Outputs are immediate results achieved soon after the completion an activity. For example, in a project training locals on human rights, the output might be “20 community workers trained in basic human rights concepts.”

The outcomes are the results achieved after a period of time. These are the short-term effects of the immediate outputs. If after some time a change occurs because of the project activity, it can be called an outcome. Continuing the above example, the outcome might be: “the participants used their training to inform other community members about their human rights.”

The impact is the long-term result that came about because of the activities undertaken in the project. For the above example, the impact of the project might be that one year later, the whole community is aware of human rights issues and in the next election the community largely voted against a leader with a history of human rights violations.

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About the author

Alta Alonzi

Alta Alonzi is a writer and researcher focusing on international development funding and grassroots NGOs. She works with the fundraising consulting company Philantropia conducting research for clients ranging from small NGOs to UN organizations. She also works closely with FundsforNGOs running training webinars, contributing resource guides, and updating the Premium donor database.

7 thoughts on “Project Results: Outputs, Outcomes, Impact

  1. Hello Alta Alonzi, we are sure, you are doing very good work. You are also assisting grassroots NGOs like ours. Are you rendering your services free of charge? If not how much do you charge to write a project proposal? Please remember that grassroots NGOs do not have a lot of money!

    1. Deat Omagor: Unfortunately, we are not able to write a proposal for you. However, we will be publishing all of our expert advice daily to this site. So subscribe to our newsletter and check back regularly for more free resources!

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