REACH 003 Number of people reached through campaigning and mass communication

The indicator counts the number of people who were exposed to a message of the project through mass communication, without personal contact with Helvetas or its implementing partners and without being identified by name. It covers campaigns run by Helvetas, its implementing partners, or actors the project supports (for example a community radio or a CSO), when the campaign is part of the project.

REACH 003 counts exposure, not benefit. We do not know whether the message changed anything for these people. This is why the indicator is always reported separately from REACH 001 (primary stakeholders) and REACH 002 (indirect stakeholders).

Key terms

• Campaigning and mass communication: activities that spread a message to a wide audience at once, for example radio and TV, social media, SMS, posters, billboards, leaflets, town criers, mobile cinema, street theatre, and public events without registration.

• Exposed: the person had a realistic chance to see, hear or read the message, for example because they listen to the station that aired it, received the SMS, or live where the posters were put up.

• Unique individual: each person is counted once in the reporting year, no matter how often or through how many channels they saw the message.

• Personal contact: a face-to-face or individual exchange in which the project could, at least in principle, write the person's name on a list (a session, a training, counselling, a registered online course). People reached with personal contact are primary stakeholders (REACH 001), not REACH 003.

Rule of thumb: an awareness activity with an attendance list belongs in REACH 001, even if it is called awareness raising. No list and no personal contact means REACH 003.

None

• Gender

Number of unique individuals estimated to have been exposed to project messages through mass communication

REACH 003 is an estimate. Use the best data available for each channel, take a conservative approach, and write down your assumptions.

• Radio and TV: audience data from the broadcaster or a media survey (average audience of the programme or time slot). If no data: population in the broadcast area × share of people who listen to or watch that station, from a household survey or a recent national media study.

• Social media: platform analytics, using "reach" or "accounts reached" (unique accounts) for the whole campaign period. Do not use views, impressions or followers; they count the same person many times.

• SMS and voice messages: number of unique phone numbers, from the sender or provider.

• Posters, billboards, leaflets, wall paintings: population living in or passing through the area, from census data or local authorities. If no data: number of leaflets distributed, assuming one reader per leaflet.

• Town criers and loudspeakers: population of the villages or neighbourhoods covered, with an estimate of people being present during the time

• Events without registration: head count, nametag numbers, or venue capacity. If no data: the organisers' documented estimate.

• Websites and apps: unique visitors or users from web analytics.

Collect data after each campaign or broadcast period. Report annually

• Keep a simple campaign log: date, channel, area covered, message, data source and estimated audience.

• Ask broadcasters, platforms and SMS providers for audience data before you sign a contract.

• Where a campaign is large, a question in the baseline, midline or endline household survey ("Did you see or hear [message] in the last 12 months? Where?") gives a more reliable estimate of the share of people reached.

Overlaps with other indicators

With REACH 001 and REACH 002: REACH 001 and REACH 002 never include the same person. REACH 003 can include people who are also in REACH 001 or REACH 002 (for example a farmer who attended a training and also heard the radio spot). Because campaign audiences cannot be identified, this overlap cannot be removed.

With sector indicators: several sector indicators include awareness raising. The same split applies to all of them: face-to-face participants with a list are counted in the sector indicator and REACH 001; the mass communication audience is counted only in REACH 003.

• CDR 1.3.1 Awareness raising on NRM, climate change and DRR. Sector indicator and REACH 001: community meetings and events with attendance lists. REACH 003: public campaigns, media, printed materials, events without lists.

• WSG 1.1.6 Hygiene promotion including menstrual hygiene. Sector indicator and REACH 001: hygiene sessions, kit distributions, school hygiene education, counselling. REACH 003: mass media and outreach without personal contact.

• FAN 1.2.2 Awareness about healthy diets. Sector indicator and REACH 001: workshops, school programmes, community discussions. REACH 003: educational materials, public campaigns, mass media, all social media.

• MIG 3.3.1 People capacitated to know their rights. Sector indicator and REACH 001: trainings, counselling, legal aid, registered hotline callers. REACH 003: rights awareness campaigns, digital platforms, outreach without lists.

• CTR 3.2.1 People capacitated to prevent or reduce conflict. Sector indicator and REACH 001: trainings, dialogues, events. REACH 003: campaigns on violence and non-violent conflict resolution.

• GCS 3.1.1 People capacitated to influence public services. Sector indicator and REACH 001: civic education, budget monitoring training, planning sessions. REACH 003: campaigns and social media.

• WSG 1.1.4 Access to basic sanitation. Sector indicator and REACH 001: households that built latrines with project support. REACH 003: the audience of information-only sanitation campaigns.

• VIC 3.4 People better informed and with more say. Outcome survey only. REACH 003: audiences of supported public interest media and CSO campaigns.

REACH 003 is an output count of exposure. Outcome indicators such as VIC 3.4 or FAN 1.2.2 surveys can show whether the campaigns changed knowledge or behaviour.

Common challenges

• No audience data from local radio or TV stations. Ask for audience data when signing the contract. Otherwise use a media survey or add a question to the household survey. As a last resort, use the population of the broadcast area × a cautious listening rate, and document it.

• Social media figures are inflated (views, impressions). Use only unique reach for the whole campaign period. Note that one person can still have several accounts.

• Several channels reach the same area. Do not add up the audiences. Use the largest audience for that area and add only channels that clearly reach other people.

• Very large numbers (national campaigns). Keep the estimate realistic and well documented. Do not report a whole country or region without data on exposure.

• Confusion with awareness sessions. Apply the rule of thumb: an attendance list means REACH 001.

• Gender data missing. Use the gender ratio of the area covered and state this in the report.