Format:
Situation/Problem (100-150 words)
Action (100-150 words)
Impact (200-300 words)

• What is different because of what I did?
• What did this activity do for the community's economy?
• What anecdotal evidence do I have?
• What examples do I have of the effects of the effort?
• What is the potential for impact?

• illustrate the significance of the land-grant effort
• show accountability
• demonstrate a return on investment
• foster a better public understanding of the whole picture of research, teaching and service
• obtain future funding
• increase awareness of all programs

An impact report is a brief summary, in ordinary language, of the economic, environmental or social results of our efforts. It states accomplishments and their payoff to society. An impact report answers the questions:

So what? Who cares?

Why should you care?

Impact reporting is important to our administrators because it:

• illustrates our accountability
• improves visibility of programs (local, state, national)
• generates support materials for lobbying
• is a repository of anecdotes for speeches and letters
• helps organize their focus for initiatives and program themes
• helps build greater understanding of our programs by the public
• is easier to sell science and education programs when they can emphasize outcomes
• results in a product they can reuse

• this kind of reporting makes sense to the public
• you are contributing to scientific literacy (or agricultural literacy or food literacy or....)
• it cuts the number of urgent requests you get for program examples, story ideas… your work will get more exposure
• your work is exposed to potential funders

• it is a source of story ideas
• it adds depth to reporting
• it gets everybody doing similar reports, making it easier to generate communication tools
• it makes it easier to plan information campaigns

Who is your audience?

• the general public
• local governing bodies
• state officials
• federal officials
• your peers
• external funding sources
• industry representatives

• exercise some kind of control over your programs
• generally want only information vital to decisions
• have lots of competition for their attention
• are asking for quantifiable differences brought about by investments in your program

What makes a good impact report?

An impact report is a brief summary, in lay terms, of the social, environmental or economic outcomes of your efforts. It states accomplishments and payoff to society.

A good impact report answers the questions "So what?" and "Who cares?"

A good impact report illustrates change in at least one of the following areas:

• Economic value or efficiency
• Environmental quality
• Social/individual well-being

Finding a vaccine for brucellosis has had an economic impact on Louisiana.

The Beauregard sweet potato put Louisiana back in the sweet potato business and the economic value to the state can be documented.

The city of Lafayette sent people to the compost facility operator training school, and now their composting facility saves the city about $1.5 million per year.

Quick tips on writing

1. It takes two to communicate: a sender and a receiver
• Writing is not an end in itself. You want the receiver to understand what you have now come to understand.
• Write in their language with words they understand. Think of a 25-year-old congressional aid as you write.
• How can you make this person understand the impact of your efforts?
• No jargon
• No acronyms
• Don't assume audience knows what a "BMP" is without explaining it
• If you have to use unique terms, explain them.
2. Be specific
• Show your evidence. Use some, not a lot, of facts and figures. You will have to do some digging.
3. Anecdotes are your friends
• The people who can best tell our story are the people who have been affected by our programs. If someone else can say how great you are, it is so much more effective than when you do it.