Tell Your Impact Story: Get Recognised, Find Funding & Grow

Learn to tell your impact story better, strengthen award entries and funding bids, attract customers and get the recognition you deserve. You may be doing brilliant work and creating real change—but are you communicating your impact clearly enough? Through the Derby Impact Awards, we've seen some excellent organisations miss out on the recognition they deserve, not because their impact wasn't strong, but because their application didn't communicate the basics: what changed, who benefited, what evidence proves it and why it matters. This practical three-hour workshop will help you tell your impact story more effectively and create a stronger application for the Derby Impact Awards. But this isn't just about winning an award. Being able to clearly demonstrate your impact can help you write stronger funding applications and impact reports, attract customers and commissioners, build partnerships and make a much stronger case for why people should work with your organisation. Increasingly, people don't just buy services—they buy the impact those services create. If you can demonstrate the difference you make, you give people a much more compelling reason to choose you. During the workshop, we'll help you identify the impact you are creating, find the evidence that demonstrates it, use numbers alongside stories and case studies, and turn all of this into a clear and compelling impact narrative. You'll leave with practical ideas you can immediately apply to your Derby Impact Awards entry—and a better way of communicating your organisation's impact long after the awards are over. If you're doing great work, make sure people understand the difference you're making. Workshop Agenda 1. Welcome: Why Your Impact Story Matters A short introduction to the workshop and why good organisations sometimes fail to get the recognition they deserve. We'll look at the difference between describing what you do and demonstrating the difference you make. 2. What Is Your Impact? Identify the real impact your organisation creates. We'll explore: • What changes because of your work? • Who benefits? • What outcomes are you creating? • Why does that change matter? 3. Finding the Evidence How do you prove the difference you're making? We'll look at the different types of evidence you can use, including: • Numbers and measurable results • Outcomes and achievements • Customer and beneficiary feedback • Testimonials • Case studies • Social value and wider community benefits 4. Turning Evidence into a Compelling Story Numbers are important—but numbers alone rarely tell the whole story. We'll explore how to combine evidence, stories and real examples to create a clear and memorable impact narrative. 5. Applying It to the Derby Impact Awards We'll look at what makes a strong Derby Impact Awards application and some of the common mistakes that can weaken an otherwise excellent entry. You'll begin applying what you've learned directly to your own potential application. 6. Taking Your Impact Story Further Your impact story shouldn't only be used for an awards application. We'll look at how you can use the same approach to strengthen: • Funding applications • Impact reports • Tender and contract opportunities • Marketing and communications • Partnerships and stakeholder engagement • Customer conversations and business development 7. Your Next Steps You'll identify the key evidence, stories and information you still need to collect and leave with a clear plan for strengthening your impact story and Derby Impact Awards application. The aim is simple: if you're creating great impact, make sure you can demonstrate it, communicate it and get recognised for it.