Tearfund's Impact Statements

When churches start their CCT journey they start meeting the needs they see in their community:

• CCT churches and communities work together to raise resources and gather volunteers for projects which address needs and benefit the wider community.
• Across the 201 communities in the Local church, lasting transformation study, nine out of ten CCT facilitators reported that their communities have new or improved community assets after participating in CCT.
• In more detail, CCT facilitators told us that:
  • 44 per cent of CCT communities reported having a new or improved school.
  • 42 per cent of CCT communities reported having new or improved water access.
  • 35 per cent of CCT communities reported having a new or improved road.
  • 21 per cent of CCT communities reported having a new or improved clinic.
• The Active Churches report also demonstrates increased economic resilience across whole communities, as a result of restored relationships. Despite challenging circumstances, communities continued or increased their investment in community projects and assets.
• The people we interviewed told us that the top three reasons that communities had more resources are: Increased community engagement in advocacy, more outworking of whole-life response and higher levels of community mindedness. These three reasons are some of the main benefits of the CCT process.

Find out more about CCT churches meeting the community's needs by watching this video from our Practice What You Pray campaign.

Churches invest their own resources to transform their community:

• In the Local church, lasting transformation study countries, Tearfund invests in CCT through making grants to partners, which go towards training and mentoring facilitators and investing in their ongoing learning through communities of practice and refresher training.
• Tearfund also invests in CCT through staff time – colleagues in the country and regional teams who support CCT and that represents a cost to Tearfund.
• Facilitators, churches and communities that are engaged in CCT make their own substantial contribution. For facilitators, that consists of substantial amounts of time that they spend facilitating and preparing for CCT activities, like Bible studies. For church and community members, that consists of resources that they mobilise for CCT initiatives – whether that’s a school scholarship scheme or new church building or an improved road.
• Through the Local church, lasting transformation study we’ve put a monetary value on these contributions. On average these financial and in-kind contributions (like food and building materials) plus volunteer hours are worth between £2,180 and £3,270 per community, per year. This enables us to calculate that for every £1 invested in CCT by Tearfund, facilitators and communities have mobilised £7 worth of time and resources.

The work of churches creates high social returns and is great value:

• The Local church, lasting transformation study put a monetary value on the impact of CCT by using a social value measurement methodology called the WELLBY. The WELLBY uses data about the impact of CCT on people’s life satisfaction. Our study found that people living in CCT communities are 27 per cent more satisfied with their lives than people living in communities not yet taking part in CCT. 
• The WELLBY takes that difference and converts it into a monetary value. This enables us to know that for every £1 invested in CCT by Tearfund, which is combined with £7 worth of resources mobilised by communities, up to £211 worth of social value may be created - or £211 worth of impact on people’s life satisfaction.
• This is equivalent to a social return of 1:28. So, all the costs together (Tearfund’s investment, facilitators’ times and community contribution) are outweighed by the positive impact of CCT by 28 times. You may notice a slight mismatch in these ratios.
• This is due to the relationship between the midpoints of the ratios for upper and lower estimates used. The same underlying cost and benefit values are used in all these calculations.This means that every £32 invested in CCT helps a community unlock £224 worth of time and resources, and together this creates £6,752 of social value.

Find out more about how we converted the WELLBY method.

Churches go beyond what they can do themselves to advocate for change:

• People in CCT communities are 46 per cent more likely to raise issues with decision-makers and 35 per cent more likely to feel they can influence decisions in their community, compared to people living in communities where CCT has not started (according to our Local church, lasting transformation study). The new and improved community assets, like schools, water access and roads, that churches have contributed to after participating in CCT are examples of what happens when churches are envisioned to advocate for change.
• Advocating for community needs was particularly important during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our learning review, Sustaining advocacy through Covid-19, found that local churches and denominations who had already been involved in CCT spoke up for the needs of the most vulnerable during the pandemic, using their existing relationships with decision-makers.
• The Active Churches study found that CCT led people in Bolivia to care more about their community. Communities became better organised. Greater cooperation  improved decision-making and more people, particularly women, took part in community meetings.

Watch this case study from Pastor Miguel in Bolivia

The efforts of CCT churches lead to increased income and economic resilience:

• CCT develops self-sufficiency through Bible studies which challenge church and community members' attitudes about themselves and their circumstances, supporting them to harness the resources at their disposal. As a result, CCT communities experience greater economic resilience.
• Compared to communities that have not started CCT, people in CCT communities are 51 per cent more likely to have earned more or the same as the previous year. They also have a more positive perception of their future income with 29 per cent more likely to believe that their financial situation will be better in a year’s time. Those who have been participating in CCT for more than one year are particularly likely to report stable or rising incomes, compared with those who got involved more recently. 
• The Active Churches study found a similar result: 40 per cent of people interviewed said that their income and purchasing power had increased and a quarter reported that it had stayed the same while taking part in CCT.
• Stable or rising incomes translate into real differences for wellbeing. The Local church, lasting transformation study found that, compared to communities that have not started CCT, people in CCT communities are 26 per cent less likely to report that their family has gone without enough food and that their family has missed school due to costs in the last year. They are also 13 per cent less likely to report that their family has gone without medicine in the last year.

People have more hope and better wellbeing as a result:

• Our evidence shows that CCT builds hope and emotional resilience, which gives people greater confidence, self-esteem and belief in their own abilities, as well as improving their overall sense of wellbeing. People in CCT communities are 35 per cent more likely to believe that they will be better off in a year’s time, a measure of hope for the future, compared to communities where CCT has not started yet – according to our Local church, lasting transformation study. 
• Life satisfaction was 27 per cent higher among CCT communities than communities where CCT has not yet started. Hope for the future increased for 85 per cent of people interviewed in the Active Churches study. 
• Alongside increased hope, CCT helps people to feel like they belong in their communities. The Local church, lasting transformation study found that people in CCT communities were 19 per cent more likely to feel like they belonged in their community compared to communities where CCT had not started. They were also 45 per cent more likely to feel like people would be there for them if they needed support. This leads to greater cohesion and collaboration in communities.

Tearfund’s mission is to follow Jesus where the need is greatest, and to partner with local churches to help people lift themselves out of poverty. This is how church and community transformation is changing lives!

Read more about church and community transformation.