Reporting people indicators
Accurate reporting of people reached is essential for project and programme management, advocacy efforts, resource mobilisation, and maintaining accountability to donors and other stakeholders. This guide provides instructions for measuring and reporting the number of primary stakeholders and indirect stakeholders.
Each project is required to report annually on the following two reach indicators:
REACH 001 Number of people reached by the project activities / involved in the project (primary stakeholders)
REACH 002 Number of people reached indirectly by the project activities (indirect stakeholders)
To ensure people reached are counted consistently and precisely across projects, Helvetas has developed this guidance for its country offices and cooperating partners. This guidance offers instructions for measuring and reporting both direct engagement and indirect reach, enabling better oversight of project outcomes and impacts.
Use this as a guide, but the final decision on who is an indirect stakeholder depends on the project's Theory of Change or Results Chain
Key Considerations for Accurate and Reliable People Reached Data (Primary Stakeholders)
Planning Phase
During the planning phase, clearly define target beneficiaries and the number of people the project aims to reach. This target should be reflected in the project’s results framework and aligned with the project budget. Accurate registration and tracking of primary stakeholders should be planned to use appropriate methods such as registration forms, attendance lists, or distribution records. These records should be linked to a primary stakeholder database which can either be developed at project level or centralised at country office level. When possible, unique identifiers (e.g., ID numbers or QR codes) should be used to ensure beneficiaries are counted only once. Clear procedures for validating the identification of beneficiaries must be in place.
Data collection must also account for mandatory disaggregation categories (gender, age, and belonging to a left behind group, read more about disaggregation here). These categories ensure a detailed understanding of who the project reaches. Clear roles must be assigned for gathering and reporting this information to maintain accountability. To ensure data quality, a system of regular validation should be established, with specific team members responsible for overseeing the accuracy and integrity of the data.
Implementation Phase
During implementation, it is vital to have systems in place that prevent double counting. Each primary stakeholder should be categorized as either new stakeholder or recurring. This can be done by regularly cross-checking participant details against existing records in project or country office primary stakeholder database (if existing). Alternatively, the registration form can include a question that asks the participants directly about their potential previous engagement with the project.
For indirect stakeholders, a clearly defined approach for estimation should be employed. This might include using population data, conducting surveys, or relying on community-level assessments to capture the broader impact of the project on people who benefit indirectly.
Overlap Considerations
Across Projects
When aggregating beneficiary counts across multiple projects, it is assumed that people reached are unique to each project. However, geographical overlaps or interconnected activities may lead to the same individuals being involved in multiple projects.
Across Time
People reached data is reported annually to the head office alongside the annual report. Only individuals reached during the specific reporting year should be included. Since primary and Indirect stakeholders may participate or benefit from the project in multiple years, people counts must not be aggregated across different years.
Estimating Indirect Reach
Household-Level Estimation
When household members are considered the indirect stakeholders, and the actual household size is unknown, the average household size for the country or region should be used to estimate reach. This data can be obtained from public records, national statistics offices, or measured during baseline surveys.
Institutional and Business-Level Estimation
Indirect stakeholders can also include employers, service providers, or users of institutions or businesses that have been strengthened by the project. These people experience indirect benefits through improvements in institutional performance, such as enhanced service delivery or business operations. Estimating reach for this group involves determining the size of staff or number of service users associated with the supported institutions, as well as identifying additional stakeholders influenced by improved organisational capacity.
Community-Level Estimation:
Entire communities or specific segments of communities can be counted as Indirect stakeholders when they benefit from broader improvements, such as improved infrastructure, better water management, or governance reforms. Estimating indirect reach at the community level requires using reliable data sources like population data, census information, baseline survey, or community surveys or impact assessments to gauge the number of people affected by these changes.
When conducting community-level estimations, it is essential to use up-to-date population data, which can typically be sourced from national censuses, local government records or from the project’s baseline survey. This data will help assess the number of people living in the area who may benefit indirectly from the project’s outcomes.
Although the intervention may potentially benefit a whole community, only a subset of the community my benefit in practice. For more accurate estimation, community surveys can be an effective tool for assessing how many people indirectly benefit from a project. Surveys should be designed to capture information on how community members are benefiting from improved services or infrastructure. For instance, a survey might ask how a new water management system or road impacts their daily lives, allowing you to estimate the reach based on the number of people reporting benefits.
When estimating the number of indirect stakeholders, it’s essential to take a cautious approach to avoid inflating the project’s perceived impact. Large numbers may not always reflect the true benefit to individuals, as indirect reach is often estimated rather than measured precisely. Conservative estimates help ensure that the reported figures are credible and provide a realistic view of the project’s scope and effectiveness. This approach maintains data accuracy, supports transparency, and ensures accountability to donors and stakeholders.
Data collection, Estimation, and Reporting
The nature and scope of activities vary across projects, making it important to assess on a case-by-case basis whether individuals reached through specific activities should be considered primary or indirect stakeholders. It is also essential to determine the most appropriate method for measuring the number of people reached, tailored to each project’s unique context.
The following table offers examples of how to classify and count individuals reached directly and indirectly across various types of interventions.