Making value visible
Making value visible
Introduction
In transformative partnerships, impact isn’t just about outputs, but it is about reshaping health outcomes, equity, and service delivery at scale. Making that value visible, in clear, credible, and collaborative ways, helps maintain momentum, attract long-term investment, and spark continuous innovation.
What does it mean?
Impact measurement is about demonstrating how the partnership strengthens health systems, advances equity, and creates lasting value for all stakeholders. Partners work together to define how change happens, using both data and stories to show progress, support scaling, and maintain commitment. Transparency and shared learning help the partnership adapt in complex, evolving environments.
Why does it matter?
Without a shared understanding of success, partnerships risk misalignment and fragmented efforts. Co-created measurement keeps partners on the same page, enables course correction, and tells a compelling narrative of impact. It also strengthens trust, can attract resources, and reinforce the value of collaboration.
Making value visible in practice
1
Define transformative success together early on
Agree on what impact and success looks like and how it will be measured. Develop a Theory of Change of the joint project to align partners on outcomes, indicators, and the pathways that create lasting impact.
2
Make value tangible and compelling
Show contributions to health equity, system improvements, and innovation through both strong data and engaging stories. Highlight not just what changed, but how and why it matters to patients, communities, and health systems.
Link collaborative actions to impact
3
Document and communicate how shared decisions, resources, and efforts drive measurable change. Contribution analysis can help in building credibility, strengthens trust, and demonstrates the power of working together.
Utilize rigorous, context-appropriate tools
4
Adopt validated methods suited to the local context to capture direct and indirect effects. Reliable measurement supports confidence, comparisons, and scaling across settings and timeframes.
Promote continuous joint learning and adaptation
5
Regularly reflect on successes and setbacks. Treat challenges as opportunities to learn, innovate, and evolve. This helps keeping the partnership resilient and responsive to emerging needs.
More information
DCCC network
- Get involved with DCCC’s Learning for Scale Working Group and support capturing insights from projects and community facilitation
- Share your learnings on digital health partnerships and check with the DCCC Communication Working Group how they can support you in this.
Tools
- This tool supports you in understanding and communicating the impact your collaboration aims to achieve. It was developed by GIZ Partnerships2030 and the Partnership Resource Centre: Impact Narrative Tool
- This publications reviews frameworks, guidelines and tools for navigating the digital health ecosystem. Published by the Robert Koch Institute and GIZ: Navigating the Digital Health Ecosystem a Review of Key Guidelines Frameworks and Tools_
Readings
- This reading provides you with a background on impact and impact assessment of partnerships. It was developed by Partnerships2030 and the Partnerships Impact and Impact assessment of partnerships – Tips and tricks from research and practice
- This academic publication presents a framework that helps assessing the partnership relationship and outcomes: Assessing and improving partnership relationships and outcomes: a proposed framework – ScienceDirect