Measuring (and celebrating) our impact - 2 year results

When you’re a small organisation working hard to make transformational change (in a space that carries so much weight) it can be easy to keep moving the goal posts - it always feels like things are evolving rapidly, but never fast enough. But it’s so important to stop and take stock - to see what change we’ve been able to affect, and celebrate those achievements.

Earlier this year, Food Connect Foundation and Food Connect Shed undertook our first Impact Measurement project. With a focus on the Shed as a replicable model for change, it compiled data from organisational records, detailed interviews with tenants, collaborators and past Food Connect customers, and a community survey. We’ve now - for the first time - got a consolidated picture of the difference we’re making across five pillars of community, enterprise, farming, health and environment, in an Impact Measurement Framework built on First Nations epistemology and theory-of-change logic.

In the last 2 years we’ve seen:

  • 30 tenant businesses at Food Connect Shed, benefitting from $444k in subsidised rent (5 of whom ‘graduated’ to independent operations)

  • 9/10 tenants saying that being part of the Shed helped make their business feel more secure

  • 8,500+ visitors and 254 events at the Shed

  • 18 food hubs (other than Food Connect Shed) supported

  • 51 food systems partnerships

  • 10/10 partners agreed that partnering with Food Connect has strengthened their organisation's ability to achieve their own goals

  • a +20 Net Promoter Score

Not to mention some affirming case studies from past tenants and clients detailing the change we’ve been able to affect for them - both directly and through showing what’s possible.

The framework provides dashboards, data tools, and the groundwork for longitudinal research partnerships — so we can keep evidencing what's working, learn faster, and make the case for replication.  The resulting Impact Data Statement also holds space for honest, harder feedback — from farmers and former customers — that will sharpen how the Foundation listens and improves its communication to valued interest holders over its next two-yearly cycle.

A big thank you to the Paul Ramsay Foundation for funding this project to help us put proof to our work, and to GoodWolf Partners for the skill and care they brought to compiling this statement and building out the underlying framework. We’ll be repeating this rigorous process every two years.