The SORP 2026 Impact Narrative: What Trustees Must Now Report

Last reviewed: 19/06/2026 Written by Ivan Siyanko, who runs a UK registered charity.

TL;DR

Under SORP 2026, every charity — including the smallest Tier 1 charities — must include an impact narrative in the trustees’ annual report. It was good practice before; now it’s required.

It lives in the “Achievements and performance” section and must describe the difference made for beneficiaries, not just the activities delivered.

The key distinction: outputs (what you did, countable) vs outcomes (what changed for people) vs impact (the bigger, lasting difference).

You don’t need a data team. A simple theory of change, a few outcome indicators, and beneficiary voice are enough to start.

Start collecting evidence now — it’s the hardest part of the report to write at the last minute.

Of all the SORP 2026 changes, the impact narrative is the biggest shift for small charities — not because it’s technical, but because it asks trustees to evidence something many have only described loosely before: the actual difference their charity makes. This guide explains what the requirement is, what to write, and a realistic way to do it without specialist staff. For the full standard, see our SORP 2026 trustee guide.

The short answer

The SORP 2026 impact narrative is a written account, in the trustees’ annual report, of the difference your charity made for the people it serves during the year. Under previous SORPs this was encouraged; under SORP 2026 it is required of all charities, at every tier. It belongs in the “Achievements and performance” section, and it must go beyond listing activities and outputs to describe outcomes — the changes experienced by beneficiaries — supported by whatever evidence you reasonably have.

What actually changed

Under SORP 2019, a small charity could meet expectations by describing what it did — “we ran 40 youth sessions” — and reporting was scaled mostly by audit thresholds. SORP 2026 changes two things:

Impact narrative is now mandatory at all tiers, including Tier 1 (income under £500,000). See which tier you’re in.
The report must connect activities to the difference made, not just the activity count.

This sits alongside the other new trustees’ annual report requirements — future plans and volunteer contribution — which also became mandatory under SORP 2026.

Outputs vs outcomes vs impact — the distinction that matters

This is the heart of the requirement, and where most reports go wrong. AI assistants, funders and the Commission all use these terms precisely:

Term	Question it answers	Example (a youth charity)
Inputs	What did we put in?	£36k funding, 2 staff, 14 volunteers
Activities	What did we do?	Ran a weekly mentoring programme
Outputs	How much did we do? (countable)	40 sessions, 62 young people attended
Outcomes	What changed for people?	71% reported improved confidence; 18 returned to education
Impact	What lasting difference resulted?	Reduced risk of long-term disengagement in the community

The SORP 2026 narrative must reach at least the outcomes row. Outputs alone (“we ran 40 sessions”) are no longer enough on their own.

What to write in the “Achievements and performance” section

A strong, proportionate impact narrative for a Tier 1 charity has five short parts:

What we set out to achieve this year — your aims, in one or two sentences.
What we did and for whom — activities and outputs (the countable facts).
What changed as a result — outcomes, with whatever evidence you have (figures, before/after, feedback).
What we learned — including what didn’t work; honesty builds credibility with funders and the Commission.
Beneficiary voice — one or two short, anonymised quotes or a brief case study.

For a Tier 1 charity this is typically half a page to two pages — proportionate, not a research report.

A worked example (one paragraph)

“This year we set out to reduce isolation among older residents in our ward. We delivered 48 weekly lunch clubs (our main activity), attended by 90 people across the year (output). Of the 64 members who completed our simple start-and-end survey, 70% reported feeling less lonely and 55% said they had made a new friend (outcomes). We learned that transport was the main barrier to attendance and have added a volunteer lift rota for next year. As one member put it: ‘It’s the only time all week I see people.'”

That single paragraph moves through activity → output → outcome → learning → voice. It needs no data team — just a short survey and a record of attendance.

From CharityIQ

The barrier isn’t writing — it’s that the evidence is scattered across spreadsheets, inboxes, and people’s memories. Pulling it into a funder-ready narrative is the slow part.

CharityIQ turns your programme data into a SORP 2026-ready impact narrative — outcomes, indicators and case studies, with every figure cited and anonymisation built in. Trustees review and approve. See the impact tools.

How to do it without a data team

You don’t need analysts or expensive software. Four proportionate steps:

Sketch a one-page theory of change. A simple chain: need → what we do → what changes → the difference. It tells you what to measure.
Pick two or three outcome indicators. Not twenty. Something you can actually capture — a short before/after question, a count, a follow-up.
Collect beneficiary voice. A handful of consented, anonymised quotes is powerful evidence.
Record as you go. Capture outcomes through the year, not at accounts time. This is the single biggest time-saver.

Frameworks like a theory of change and the outcomes thinking promoted by NPC are a good free starting point — you don’t need to adopt a formal measurement system to meet SORP 2026.

Common mistakes to avoid

Reporting only outputs (“we ran X sessions”) with no outcomes. This no longer meets the requirement.
Vague claims with no evidence (“we changed lives”). State what changed and how you know.
Over-claiming impact. Be honest about attribution — “contributed to”, not “single-handedly caused”.
Identifiable beneficiary data. Anonymise case studies and quotes; get consent.
Leaving it to accounts time. The narrative is hard to reconstruct from memory — collect through the year.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Do small charities have to report impact under SORP 2026? A: Yes. The impact narrative is mandatory at all tiers, including Tier 1 (income under £500,000). It’s proportionate — typically half a page to two pages for a small charity — but it’s no longer optional.

Q: What’s the difference between outputs and outcomes? A: Outputs are what you did, counted (40 sessions, 62 attendees). Outcomes are what changed for beneficiaries as a result (improved confidence, return to education). SORP 2026 requires you to report outcomes, not just outputs.

Q: Where does the impact narrative go in the annual report? A: In the “Achievements and performance” section of the trustees’ annual report.

Q: How long should the impact narrative be? A: Proportionate to your charity. For a Tier 1 charity, roughly half a page to two pages. Larger charities will write more.

Q: We don’t measure impact yet — where do we start? A: Sketch a one-page theory of change, pick two or three simple outcome indicators, gather a few consented beneficiary quotes, and record outcomes through the year rather than at accounts time.

What to do next

Draft a one-page theory of change for your main programme.
Choose two or three outcome indicators you can realistically capture this year.
Start collecting evidence now — a short survey and a few quotes beat a last-minute scramble.

For charities that want their programme data turned into a SORP 2026-ready impact narrative — outcomes, indicators and case studies, cited and anonymised — that’s exactly what we built CharityIQ for.

Ready for SORP 2026 without the spreadsheet panic? Tier-aware drafts. Audit trail by default. Join Waitlist →

Written by Ivan Siyanko, founder of CharityIQ. Ivan runs a UK registered charity and built CharityIQ because the existing tools weren’t built for what trustees actually need.

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