Impact assessment

An independent report your board can put its name to.

Under Rule 8(3) of the CSR Rules, a company whose average CSR obligation over the three preceding financial years is ₹10 crore or more must have its projects of ₹1 crore or more independently assessed, one year after completion. The report goes to the board and is annexed to the annual report on CSR.

What the assessment covers

OECD DAC

Relevance

Whether the project addressed a need the community actually holds.

OECD DAC

Coherence

Fit with government schemes and other programmes in the same geography.

OECD DAC

Effectiveness

Whether stated objectives were met, measured against the baseline.

OECD DAC

Efficiency

Output achieved for the resources and time committed.

OECD DAC

Impact

Changes attributable to the intervention, including unintended ones.

OECD DAC

Sustainability

Whether benefits will hold once company funding ends.

Method

1

Document review

Sanction notes, budgets, utilisation certificates and implementing-partner reports.

2

Sampling design

Statistically defensible sample of beneficiary and comparison households.

3

Field survey

Structured interviews administered by enumerators trained by panel members.

4

Qualitative work

Focus groups and key-informant interviews with panchayat and line-department staff.

5

Triangulation

Survey findings tested against administrative data and qualitative evidence.

What you receive

Independent impact assessment report, signed by the lead panel member

Executive summary drafted for the board and the CSR committee

Annexure text formatted for the annual report on CSR

Full method note, sample frame and instruments

Anonymised dataset and field photographs

Commission an assessment