Key Performance Indicators for telephone befriending

When a volunteer is paired to a service user as part of a telephone befriending service this is considered a match, and if you only track one metric then it should be the number of active matches.  It is the simplest metric to track to get an indication as to the scale of your service and also provide a simple basis to set service targets and plan resource requirements.

If this is an externally funded project this is likely the absolute minimum that you would be expected to report.  It is however very simplistic and for larger projects it is likely you will want more detail.

Essentially the difference in the number of matches from one period to the next, e.g. month-on-month expressed as a percentage.  This will enable to you track the growth (or decline) of the service towards your target, as well as acting as an indication of demand for your service.

A more accurate measure of output than matches is to measure the number of interactions between matches in a period.  How many calls took place and how did this compare to the previous period.  Ideally you would track and monitor this at both a service level and for individual matches, where a decline in interactions could be indicative of a problem.

More accurate still would be to measure the number of minutes of interactions within a period.  Again, this could be measured and analysed on both an overall service level and on a match-by-match basis.  If you use Togetherly to deliver your service this is included as part of the standard reporting, alternatively you can always collect this manually through surveying your volunteers.

How many operational staff are required to maintain your current matches. This is really an indication of the efficiency of your service and through service and process optimisation you will be wanting this number to reduce over time, without negatively impacting the other KPIs.

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