From Reports to Real Stories: Rethinking How We Talk About Impact in the Third Sector

Amanda Hannah MA (Hons), PgDipCE, Dip RSA works with Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway RSDG) - a local charity that supports individuals, couples, families and carers across the Dumfries & Galloway region through relationship counselling, family mediation, child contact services and specialist therapy. 

RSDG’s work is set against a backdrop of real need. Across the national network of Relationships Scotland services in 2021-22, over 25,600 people contacted a member service or the national info-line, and around 13,850 people received direct support such as counselling or mediation, with over 62,000 hours of direct support provided. In addition, outcome data for 2024-25 show that 73 % of parents reported improved ability to deal with relationship conflict, and 78 % said communication with their partner or ex improved. 

In short: in a region where relationships, parenting and separation can have deep and lasting consequences for individuals and children, RSDG’s role is vital.

Why case-studies matter

For organisations like RSDG, case-studies serve several important purposes:

• They help illustrate the lived-experience of clients and make abstract issues (e.g., breakdowns in communication, family conflict) tangible and human.
• They provide evidence of impact in a narrative form - complementing statistics with a story people can relate to.
• They support funding, awareness and learning: by showing not just outcomes but the pathway from challenge → intervention → outcome, they help funders, peers and potential clients understand what works.
• They build credibility and authenticity: when a charity shows both what it does and how people experience it (including limitations or challenges), it invites trust rather than simply making claims.

Amanda’s participation in a series of online learning sessions gave her new perspectives on how to tell such stories within her organisation, making case-studies themselves more effective tools for communication.

What Amanda did

While working remotely, Amanda decided to join a number of short online sessions aimed at improving how her organisation communicates with service users and the wider public. She valued that the sessions were scheduled in a realistic way for third sector time pressures - focused and manageable.

One session - Case Studies: Telling Stories to Support Your Cause - stayed with her. She began to see that a case-study isn’t just data + text; it’s someone’s lived experience brought into the open. She realised how using photography or short video or animation could make the stories more relatable.

What also stood out was that when she asked for help with a specific need - using Zoom more effectively - she was offered a one-to-one follow-up. That personal touch made the learning feel relevant and bespoke.

What changed

Since the sessions:

• Amanda says the team is thinking differently about how they share their work. Instead of only reporting numbers, they’re looking at how to show how people are helped, why it matters, and what that feels like.
• The availability of slides and recordings means Amanda can revisit what she learned and share it with colleagues who couldn’t attend - increasing reach.
• The biggest challenge remains time-pressure, but now Amanda feels better equipped: “having a space to pause, learn from others, reflect on our communication - that’s what made a difference.”

Reflections

In an environment where perhaps one in five or six people may turn to a service like RSDG at a time of relationship or family challenge, and where the ripple-effects affect children, community and wellbeing, it matters that organisations can tell their story clearly. Case-studies aren’t just nice extras - they’re a bridge between what’s happening on the ground and how others (funders, service users, partners) understand it.

For Amanda, what felt especially valuable was the shift from what we do to how we help people feel and relate. In her words:

“It made me reflect on how we communicate. Sometimes the simplest changes - using stories instead of stats - can make the biggest difference.”