Domain

A Domain is a heading or category for a group of Outcomes. 

Grouping Outcomes into categories or themes can make it easier for you to find and report on similar outcomes; for example, you can filter by Domain in your Outcomes Engine report. 

Your Domains should describe the arenas in which change is going to occur for your stakeholders – e.g. ‘Arts and culture,’ ‘Community development’ and ‘Economic development’. 

This is a non-compulsory field in SmartyGrants. Only use this field if it makes sense in the context of your program. For example, if you have just a few outcomes, you probably don’t need to use Domains to sort them into categories. 

Domains appear on forms as unselectable headings. By default Domains are visible to those filling out a form, however, this can be adjusted under display options within the form.

You may provide a Description and Keyword/s for each Domain in columns F and G (see below for more information on these fields).  

Outcome

Outcomes are the specific changes you hope will occur as a result of a program or initiative. They usually describe changes that you hope will occur in the lives of stakeholders.  

For example, the Domain 'personal wellbeing' might include physical Outcomes like 'reduced disease' or 'increased fitness', and psychological Outcomes like 'decreased anxiety' or 'improved confidence'. The Domain 'community connection' might include Outcomes such as 'improved sense of belonging' and 'a more vibrant community'. 

Your Outcomes should ideally indicate a direction of change – reduced; increased; decreased; improved; etc.

If you don’t know what your intended program outcomes are, your guidelines are a good place to start. What is the primary purpose of your program? If it’s to provide capacity building support for local community groups, one of your Outcomes might be “Increased financial sustainability of local community groups”.  It is also a good idea to identify who ('target group') is going to benefit in the outcome statement i.e. young people in North Dandenong, children 3-5 attending kinder programs, women attending the health program.

You must include at least one Outcome in your Framework, and you may include as many as you like (though less is more; the more Outcomes you try to track, the less likely it is that you will be able to make sense of it all).  

Use a new row for each Outcome.  

You may provide a Description and Keyword/s for each Outcome in columns F and G (see below for more information on these fields).  

Metric

A Metric (or ‘indicator’ as they are sometimes called) is a numeric measurement designed to help you determine whether progress towards an outcome is occurring or not, and to quantify the extent to which it is occurring. 

There are lots of different types of Metrics. SmartyGrants allows you to track the following two types of metrics, but only if you plan to ask your grantees to report on them.  

• Activity Metrics, which are designed to count/measure the things produced as a result of the grant (e.g. ‘Number of training sessions) – also referred to as ‘outputs’. 

• Outcome Metrics, which are designed to measure the change experienced by the target group (e.g. ‘Number of program participants who gained employment’) – also referred to as ‘outcome or change indicators’. 

In Column D (‘Type of metric’) you can indicate whether your Metric is an Activity Metric or an Outcome Metric. If you’re unsure, or if you think your Metric falls into both categories, leave the column blank. More information about this field is provided below.

SmartyGrants Outcomes Engine Reports allow you to view each grantee’s individual results (i.e. you can see how one organisation performed in relation to a particular Metric). You can also view results in aggregate (i.e. you can see how all your grantees, or a sub-set of them, performed in relation to a particular Metric).  

Metrics work best in SmartyGrants when they:  

• Are quantifiable/numeric (you can ask about qualitative results in other Outcomes Engine fields); 

• Are clearly defined and succinct; 

• Ask for one thing only at a time (e.g. don’t ask for ‘Number and percentage of …’ – ask for both separately); 

• Contain all the context needed to gauge and compare the result, e.g.  

  • unit (cm, metres, people, people-days, %, etc) 

  • direction of change (increase, decrease) 

  • timeframe (per month, per year, etc.); 

• Have been tested, and/or are in common use, and/or are commonly understood as a relevant and useful indicator of performance in a particular arena; 

• Are used sparingly – you are much better off to "ask one good question and answer it reliably" than try to track many things at once; 

• Relate to a clearly articulated outcome; 

• Are things that an individual grantee can be asked to report on (as discussed above).  

The Metric field is optional. You should only include Metrics if you are clear about what you want to collect, and how and whether grantees will be able to report on them. 

Type of metric

As discussed above, SmartyGrants allows you to track two types of metrics: 

• Activity Metrics, which are designed to count/measure the things produced as a result of an activity (e.g. ‘Number of training sessions’) – also referred to as ‘outputs’; 

• Outcome Metrics, which are designed to measure the change experienced by a population group (e.g. ‘Number of program participants who gained employment’) – also referred to as ‘outcome or change indicators’. 

It can be useful to know which Metric is which when it comes to reporting on your program’s results. You may want to know about program outputs (in which case you’re most likely to use ‘Activity Metrics’); or you may want to know about and outcomes/impacts (where you’re most likely to use ‘Outcomes Metrics’). Knowing your Activity Metrics from your Outcome Metrics will also help you to learn more about what works best to shift the dial on your outcome and impact goals.  

You can indicate which category your Metric falls into in Column D (‘Type of metric’). Choose from the two choices that are displayed when you click into the cell. Note that if you copy and paste into these cells you will lose the menu items, and you may get an error when you try to upload your Framework. 

If you’re unsure, or if you think your Metric falls into both categories, leave the column blank.  

This field is optional. 

Description

In this column you may add a Description for any Domains, Outcomes or Metrics that appear in Columns A, B or C in the corresponding row. 

The Description you provide here will provide further context for people filling in the form (as shown below).  

Aggregate

It can be useful to see how grantees have performed in relation to a particular Metric in comparison to one another, and/or to view the results of all grantees combined. The information you provide in Column E (‘Aggregate’) is used to help SmartyGrants to generate these insights.  

Some Metrics (e.g. ‘Number of participants’) can be added together to create a combined picture across grantees, across rounds, and across programs. Others (e.g. ‘Percentage change in sense of belonging’) can't be added up sensibly. For these types of metrics we list and rank and average rather than aggregate them in your Outcomes report.  

In this Column select 'Yes' if the metrics can be aggregated/added up to create an overall picture across many or all grantees. Select 'No' if they cannot sensibly be added up (e.g. percentages). Note that if you copy and paste into these cells you will lose the menu items, and you may get an error when you try to upload your Framework. 

This field is optional.  

Additional keywords

All words used in Columns A, B and C (other than linking words like ‘the’) will automatically become keywords in SmartyGrants, but Column G of the Outcomes Framework allows you to provide additional keywords or synonyms that may make it easier for users who are filling out the form to find the right term. 

For example, your Domain, Outcome or Metric might use the word ‘Hearing impaired’ but if you also put the word ‘Deaf’ in the ‘Additional Keywords’ column any user typing ‘Deaf’ to search will be directed to ‘Hearing impaired’.  

In the example below, ‘Musician’ has been included as a keyword for the Metric ‘Number of local artists supported’. Thus when the person filling in the form types ‘Music’ the corresponding Metric comes up as a suggested selection.  

You can provide as many additional keywords as you wish. Separate each term with a comma.  

This field is optional. 

Field 

What is it? 

Grantseeker Outcome   

The Outcomes Engine is deliberately designed to put grantees at the centre of the application process; thus the first field in this section asks grantseekers to outline their own outcome goals. (You can, however, change the order of the fields if you’d prefer to put your Outcomes first, or you can omit this field entirely if you want to keep things simple.)  

This is a free text field. We recommend you limit responses to 20 words.  You may change the question text and/or the hint once it has been added to your form.   

Outcome Timeframe  

This is a single-choice question, and is designed to help you place your grantee’s outcome goals within a time horizon. 

We have provided some guidance notes for grantees in the introduction to the grid - i.e. Short-term outcomes occur directly following an activity (e.g. within 1 month); medium-term outcomes are those that fall between the short and long-term outcomes (e.g. between 1 month and 2 years); and long-term outcomes are those we expect to see years later (e.g. 2, 5, 10 or 50 years after the activity).

These choices are fixed to allow comparisons across programs and, in future, from grantmaker to grantmaker.  If you want to use different choices you will have to create an alternative choice list and add a new question to the grid on the form. 

Grantmaker Outcome

This field allows you to draw a direct link between the work of your grantees and your own Outcome goals. If you don’t use this field, the template Outcomes Reports will not work. 

This single-choice field draws its choices from your Outcomes Framework. The choices will reflect the Outcomes chosen for the particular Round attached to your form at the time of fill-out.   

Those filling in the form will only be able to pick one outcome per row (though you may allow them to add additional rows).

Outcome Alignment Notes

This field allows grantseekers to provide information linking their outcome goal to yours - to explain how achieving their goals will help you achieve yours.

Outcome Progress

This field is designed to be included on an Acquittal form (progress or final report) to ascertain if you grantee has seen a shift towards each of their outcome goal/s. (This field is intended for use in the progress or aquittal report not the application).

Outcome Progress Notes

This field allows grantseekers to provide additional context on their progress toward their goals (and yours) if required. (This field is intended for use in the progress or aquittal report not the application).

Outcome Notes  

This field allows grantseekers to provide additional context on any aspect of the Outcomes Standard Section if required. As it is never possible to know or guess what parameters a grantee is operating within, we recommend you always use this field on your forms.

If the grantee wants to provide a different response on different forms, they need to override their previous response. SmartyGrants will store both responses.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Outcomes Standard Section is used.

Field 

What is it? 

Grantmaker Metric  

This field will usually appear first on an Application Form. It’s designed to encourage grantseekers to identify which of your standard metrics they can or will track against if their grant application is successful. This information may be relevant for assessments.  

For this field to work you will need to have included Metrics in your Outcomes Framework. This single-choice field draws its choices from your Outcomes Framework. The choices will reflect the Metrics chosen for the particular Round attached to your form at the time of fill-out.

Those filling in the form will only be able to pick one metric per row (though you may allow them to add additional rows).  

Grantmaker Metric Target

This is a numeric field that is usually first used on an Application Form to encourage grantees to identify a target number for each metric they plan to tracking against. This data may be useful when you assess the grant application, and again when you assess the results of the project during or at the end of the grant (Target versus Actual).  

Grantmaker Metric Progress  

This is a numeric field that is usually used on an Acquittal Form to collect data from grantees that will show how far they have progressed towards their target.   

If this field is used on multiple forms, the grantee can update their response progressively if and as their situation changes. If you use this field on multiple Acquittal forms, you should include a question to reflect which the stage of the grants lifecycle the grantee is in. For example, if you have multiple milestone reports, you may want to change the question text to ‘Milestone 1’ in the first instance and ‘Milestone 2’ in the second.  

Grantmaker Metric Collection   

This is a short text field that can be used on Application and Acquittal forms. It’s designed to give you more information about how the grantee will collect data (which may help you understand more about how reliable that data is).   

If this field is used on multiple forms, the grantee’s response can be updated progressively if and as their situation changes. 

Grantmaker Metric Notes   

This field allows grantees to provide additional context if required. For example, it might be used on an Application Form to allow the grantseeker to indicate how and why they have decided to use a particular Metric, and on an Acquittal Form to explain why they have exceeded or fallen short of their Target.  

If the grantee wants to provide a different response on different forms, they need to override their previous response. SmartyGrants will store both responses.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Grantmaker Metrics Standard Section is used.

Field 

What is it? 

Grantseeker Metric  

This is a short text field designed to allow your grantees to define the types of numeric data they collect to help them track their progress. It is usually first used on an Application Form, though may also be relevant for an Acquittal Form.  

Grantseeker Metric Type  

This is a single choice field, through which grantseekers can define their Metric Type (or leave blank if they are not sure).  Available metric types are:   

• Activity Metrics, which are designed to count/measure the things produced as a result of an activity (e.g. ‘Number of people who participated in training’) – also referred to as ‘outputs’;  

• Outcome Metrics, which are designed to measure the change experienced by a population group (e.g. ‘Number of program participants who gained employment’) – also referred to as ‘change indicators’.  

Grantseeker Metric Target  

This is a numeric field that is usually first used on an Application Form to encourage grantees to identify a target number for the initiative that’s the subject of their application. It may be useful when you assess the grant application, and again when you assess the results of the project during or at the end of the grant (Target versus Actual).  

Grantseeker Metric Progress  

This is a numeric field that is usually used on an Acquittal Form to collect data from grantees that will show how far they have progressed towards their target.   

If this field is used on multiple forms, the grantee can update their response progressively if and as their situation changes. If you use this field on multiple Acquittal forms, you should include a question to reflect which the stage of the grants lifecycle the grantee is in. For example, if you have multiple milestone reports, you may want to change the question text to ‘Milestone 1’ in the first instance and ‘Milestone 2’ in the second.  

Grantseeker Metric Collection   

This is a short text field that can be used on Application and Acquittal forms. It’s designed to give you more information about how the grantee will collect data (which may help you understand more about how reliable that data is).   

If this field is used on multiple forms, the grantee’s response can be updated progressively if and as their situation changes. 

Grantseeker Metric Notes   

This field allows grantees to provide additional context if required. For example, it might be used on an Application Form to allow the grantseeker to indicate how and why they have decided to use a particular Metric, and on an Acquittal Form to explain why they have exceeded or fallen short of their Target.  

If the grantee wants to provide a different response on different forms, they need to override their previous response. SmartyGrants will store both responses.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Grantseeker Metrics Standard Section is used.

Field 

What is it? 

Activity 

Through this text field, grantees can list their activities, placing one on each row. Grantees are not expected to provide a great deal of detail here; just a list. If you want a longer description of what each activity entails you may wish to add an additional field.

This field is usually used first on an Application Form, where the question text might be changed to ‘Anticipated Activity’.  

Activity Location   

This field allows grantees to stipulate a location for each Activity. Locations are validated, meaning they can be accurately placed on a map.  

Activity Online

This field asks grantees to select from a dropdown list field if the activity will be delivered online.

Activity Start Date

A date field is provided for grantees to advise the start date for each activity.

Activity End Date

A date field is provided for grantees to advise the end date for each activity.

Activity Status 

This single-choice field is designed for use on Acquittal forms. It’s designed to help you gather information on whether or not each grantee activity has been completed at the time of reporting.  

Activity Notes   

This field allows grantees to provide additional context if required. If the grantee wants to provide a different response on different forms, they need to override their previous response. SmartyGrants will store both responses.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Activities Standard Section is used. 

Field 

What is it? 

Milestone

Through this text field, grantees can list the milestones, placing one on each row. Grantees are not expected to provide a great deal of detail here; just a list. If you want a longer description of what each activity entails you may wish to add an additional field.

This field is usually used first on an Application Form.

Milestone Start Date

A date field is provided for grantees to advise the start date for each milestone.

Milestone End Date

A date field is provided for grantees to advise the end date for each milestone.

Milestone Status 

This single-choice field is designed for use on Acquittal forms. It’s designed to help you gather information on whether or not each grantee milestone has been completed at the time of reporting.  

Explanatory Notes   

This field allows grantees to provide additional context if required. If the grantee wants to provide a different response on different forms, they need to override their previous response. SmartyGrants will store both responses.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Milestone Standard Section is used. 

Field 

What is it? 

Theory of Change

This text field allows grantseekers to explain why they believe the activities they propose will create a shift towards the outcomes they seek. It can be used in combination with or instead of the upload field.

Evidence

This text field allows grantseekers to provide evidence (where relevant) of the link between the work they will do and the outcomes they seek.

Theory of Change Upload

In addition to the above fields, or alternatively, grantseekers may upload a file that demonstrates their Theory of Change, if available.

Theory of Change Notes

This field allows grantees to provide additional context if required.

It is recommended that you include this field on all forms where the Theory of Change Standard Section is used.