Using the skills of economists, PBE provides pro bono support to charities to help them:

• Measure, understand and articulate their impact
• Influence and inform policy
• Make best use of their data

What difference would PBE make to my charity?

PBE’s pro bono services are practical, tailored to each charity that we work with, and produce credible results. We can help charities to:

• Better understand the impact of their services on the lives of those they help. When combined with practical support on managing their data efficiently, this gives them strong foundations to monitor outcomes over time and explore how changes to their services can increase their impact.
• Influence policy. Many charities use the work PBE has done for them to support their campaigns to change policy and to provide evidence to policymakers, such as MPs, select committee members and local government figures. Policymakers can rely on PBE’s rigorous and independent analysis. The volunteer economists that PBE works with are also often in positions of influence, with many coming from the civil service and regulators.
• Increase their funds. In a challenging fundraising climate, growing numbers of funders are asking for evidence of how charities impact society and the value that their work brings. PBE helps charities to build this evidence for their interventions and to describe them in an impactful way to strengthen their case for support.
• Improve their skills. In surveys, two-thirds (67%) of charities say that undertaking impact measurement is ‘very important’ to them, but many do not have the skills, or time, to do it effectively. PBE’s economists are experts in impact measurement and evaluation. Their extensive experience is at the disposal of charities to help them to learn, build their skills, and save them time.

What are the different services PBE provides?

PBE provides a range of services to small- and mid-sized charities to help them measure, understand and better articulate their impact, influence and inform policy and make best use of their data. Whether they benefited from short-term support or in-depth evaluation, 94%​ of the charities that PBE has worked with say they would recommend us​.

Service		Description	Time
Data First Aid		Support from a dedicated volunteer economist who can help charities with data analysis or visualisation, spreadsheets or short pieces of research.	1-5 days over a period of up to 5 months
Unlocking Impact Workshop		Flagship introductory workshop for charities to learn about the economic approach to measuring and valuing the impact of their work.	Half day interactive workshop
Workshop Plus		In addition to attendance at an Unlocking Impact Workshop, charities receive one-to-one sessions with PBE economists to help them take their next steps towards measuring, understanding and articulating their value. These bespoke sessions help charities build a framework for their data, identify potential evidence sources to use in an economic evaluation, and choose which outcomes they want to focus on.	0.5-5 days additional expert economist support over a 3 month period
Projects	Analysis	In depth economic evaluation to measure the impact of a charity or intervention on wider society, against the costs of delivery. Typically, this type of project might allow the charity to say: “For every £1 spent, we generate £X of benefits to society.”	6-18 month project led by expert economists and volunteers
	Advocacy	Rigorous analysis of evidence to quantify the benefits of policy change or the cost of a problem, e.g. the cost to UK taxpayers of failing to support children exposed to domestic violence.
	Advisory	Detailed assessment of the feasibility of a project; whether there is sufficient data and/or evidence available to undertake an Analysis or Advocacy project. If there is not, expert economists will endeavour to advise charities on the steps needed to make a robust economic evaluation possible in the future.

How can my charity get PBE’s help?

If you have a support request, please visit the service page which interests you (Data First Aid, Analysis, Advocacy, Advisory, Unlocking Impact Workshop) and follow the instructions.

If you have any questions about this process, please email us at [email protected].