Results of a project can be differentiated in outputs, outcomes and impacts of an intervention.OECD Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management. Project outputs can generally be identified very easily. Yet, they represent only a first step towards the ultimate objective of project interventions: Initiating project-related outcomes and having true impacts on the ground.
Outputs are an immediate deliverable of a project. They should be finalised and publicly available by the time the project terminates. Outputs comprise tangible project results such as tools, databases, executive summaries, educational material etc.
Outcomes are the likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of an intervention's outputs, e.g. the outcome of improved, knowledged-based decision-making processes as an effect of a knowledge database (= output) established by a project. Outcomes will in in most cases not materialise before project closure.
Impacts are positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended.OECD Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management
As outcomes and impacts are difficult to differentiate, this section contains both of these types of project results.
The identification of outcomes and impacts requires a deeper insight into the respective project e.g. through project participants or direct interviews with project representatives. Outcomes and impacts are usually not solely influenced by projects, but are a complex combination of project results on the one hand and framework conditions on the other.