Impact Evaluation of the Coronavirus Community Support Fund

This document describes an evaluation of the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF) by Ipsos MORI, which aimed to assist small and medium-sized community organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCSF's goals were to support affected individuals and communities, prevent the closure of essential services, and promote volunteer involvement. The evaluation adhered to ISO 20252 standards and employed a Theory of Change, contribution analysis, surveys, interviews, and case studies to assess the program's impact. Key findings revealed that the CCSF helped organizations adapt and continue operations, reaching approximately 6.58 million beneficiaries, including those facing mental health challenges, disabilities, and financial difficulties, and involved around 183,200 volunteers, many of whom were new and from diverse backgrounds. The CCSF was found to be a significant financial contributor to positive outcomes, such as improved mental health and social contact, and was crucial in maintaining the financial health and capacity of organizations. While the impact on public services was less clear, the CCSF prevented many temporary closures. The evaluation highlighted the importance of rapid scoping, data collection, and high survey response rates, achieved by making participation a grant requirement. Future evaluations could benefit from direct beneficiary interviews and similar methodological approaches. Ipsos MORI's evaluation concluded that the CCSF was successful in increasing community support and suggests that future emergency funding programs could learn from this approach. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

• Lead department: Closed organisation: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• Evaluation stage: A complete evaluation report
• Other departments: The National Lottery Community Fund
• Evaluation types: Impact evaluation
• Impact methods: Theory-based methods
• Theory-based methods: Contribution tracing
• Grant information: This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
• Government Major Project information: This intervention is not a major project
• Policies: No policies provided

Event Dates

• Event Name: Publication of final results
• Event date: September 2021

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

• Link(s) to published report(s): Yes
• Links to evaluation plans: No link provided
• Links to published evaluations (DEBUGGING): No final report link found.
• Findings: Not provided
• Permission to share confirmed: Yes