Outputs are activities that are done or accomplished that help achieve outcomes. Examples of outputs include the number of students who participate in a music program, or the number of staff development workshops held for district music teachers during a school year.
Outcomes, on the other hand, are what results from what was done that is of value or benefit to others. Or, put another way, outcomes are changes that occur or differences that are made for students, teachers, and so on. So, using the examples above, outcomes would be described as the changes that would occur in students after participating in the music program or in teachers after participating in the staff development workshops. Outcomes relate to changes in behavior, knowledge, decision-making, skills, or capacities.
Here are a few questions from the Scottish Community Development Centre’s Learning Evaluation and Planning (LEAP) framework that you or your program staff can use to identify outcomes:
- What will be different as a result of what we do?
- For whom will things be different?
- What will be changed?
- What will be improved?
- What changes will make you think, “We’ve been successful and made a difference?
As you develop your project activities, LEAP suggests that you ask, “Why are we doing that?”—and the answer to this question is usually an outcome. Just like objectives, outcomes should be based on need, and they should be clear, realistic, and achievable during the grant period.
There are no guarantees that outcomes will occur as we hope they will, but according to LEAP, “It is important to know what outcomes are intended so we can judge the value or effect of our actions.”
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