Youth NGO's, youth social enterprises (social enterprises run by young people and / or working with young people) and other relevant organizations working directly with youth (further in text referred to as "YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS") in Baltic countries do an important work that is beneficial for the society in many ways - they create opportunities for young people to gain important knowledge, skills and experience; they help young people tackle problems and challenges; they contribute to sustainable development goals on a local, national and international level, and they contribute to other areas of the society. However, many times youth organizations struggle to measure, plan, describe, evaluate and communicate the exact value and impact they create. When asked about why their work is important, why they should get funding, what changed because of their work, they can answer only in vague terms and cannot give or show any proof. They lack the capacity and skills to express the impact of their work in concrete numbers, facts, stories, and therefore other stakeholders, communities and society in general has little reason to support what they do. This joint project by 5 partner organizations in Baltic States will tackle the social impact management issue by improving social impact management knowledge, skills and recognition in Baltic States. All partner organizations are the leading organizations in their respective fields - social entrepreneurship, youth work advocacy and/or impact management - and all are committed and motivated to integrate the project tools, results and activities in their daily work and disseminate the project tools and results through their member and partner networks. The MAIN OBJECTIVES of the project are: 1) to improve the capacity, skills and know-how of youth workers in youth organizations in Baltic States on topics related to social impact management (impact tracking, measurement, evaluation and communication), and 2) to promote the importance and approaches of social impact management in youth organizations among policy makers and stakeholders in Baltic countries by creating practical, user-friendly impact management tools and policy recommendations and implementing non-formal education learning and experience sharing events for youth organizations. Main project ACTIVITIES will include: - 2 social impact management transnational learning events in Latvia and Estonia; - 4 practical, user-friendly social impact management publications: a best practice compilation, a toolbox, communication guidelines and a set of policy recommendations. Publications will be available in 4 languages: ENG, LV, EE, LT. - 6 multiplier events in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania for various youth work related audiences. - communication and dissemination of results activities which will reach at least 50 000 people across Baltic States. Expected RESULTS of the project: - 155 youth workers (staff and volunteers) of youth organizations in Baltic States have improved their capacity, skills and know-how about social impact management (impact tracking, planning, measurement, evaluation and communication) through participating in transnational learning events (50) and multiplier events (105) of the project, and feel confident and motivated to use the new skills and know-how in practice; - 40 youth policy and youth social entrepreneurship stakeholders, policy makers, decision makers and ecosystem enablers in Baltic States have gained insights and knowledge about impact management in youth organizations in Baltic States through participating in multiplier events, and are willing and motivated to use the knowledge, tools and policy recommendations created in the project to promote quality and efficiency of larger youth systems on a local, national and Baltic States level. - 300 youth workers (staff and volunteers) of youth organizations in Baltic States and 100 youth policy and youth social entrepreneurship stakeholders, policy makers, decision makers and ecosystem enablers in Baltic States have gained knowledge about and used the tools and publications created in the project (direct communication, downloads, views) - 50 000 people have been reached and informed about the importance of the work of youth organizations as well as project activities, results and outcomes through project communication and dissemination of results activities in all 3 Baltic States (social media audience, newsletters, partner network reach, presentations in other events etc).
The main objectives of the project were 1. to improve the capacity, skills and know-how of youth workers in youth organisations in Baltic States on topics related to social impact management (impact tracking, measurement, evaluation and communication), and 2. to promote the importance and approaches of social impact management in youth organisations among policy makers and stakeholders in Baltic countries by creating practical, user-friendly impact management tools and policy recommendations and implementing non-formal education learning and experience sharing events for youth organisations.
Social impact is becoming a more important subject for both social enterprises and youth organisations. Often youth organisations lack knowledge and understanding about the actual quality of their work, if what they do really reaches their goals and how, and what exactly they should do to improve their work in order to create the impact they want. Moreover, they also lack the understanding and insight about why they should track, evaluate and communicate their impact, so they just keep their business as usual, "write projects", implement activities for activity sake, without ever asking the question if they are really creating the positive change. In all Baltic states there is very little information available for youth organisations about the importance of social impact management, let alone user-friendly tools or consultation services. National youth policies rarely mention or tackle this topic, leaving it all up to organisations, social enterprises and youth workers themselves to figure out if and how they could track, evaluate and communicate their impact. The problem with poor social impact management among youth organisations creates challenges and tensions also on a larger policy level.