Definitions
Published definitions
Most misleading impact reporting is not fabrication. It is a word doing more work than it should. These are the definitions we hold ourselves to.
People and response
Reach
Unique people exposed to content we own. Reach is a measure of exposure. It is not a measure of interest, agreement, formation or faith, and a reach figure will never be described as people reached with the Gospel in the sense of people who responded.
Engaged learner
A person who completes a defined threshold of a piece of content or an event — for example, finishing an article, watching most of a video, or attending a session. The threshold is published with the figure.
Gospel response
A self-reported response, recorded with its date and its type, where the person actively chose it. A response is not automatically a conversion, and we will not report it as one. The response types are distinguished in reporting: wanting to know more, asking a question, requesting prayer, and deciding to follow Jesus.
Followed-up response
A response where human contact was completed according to our follow-up protocol. This is reported separately from responses, because the gap between the two numbers is the honest measure of whether we are keeping our promises.
Participation and formation
Active participant
A person enrolled in a programme who meets its published activity criteria. Registration alone is not participation, and we will not report registrations as participants.
Graduate
A person who has completed the published requirements of a programme. Completion is not commissioning.
Commissioned leader
A graduate approved through the defined spiritual, character and competence review. It is possible to graduate without being commissioned. This number will always be smaller than the graduate number, and if it ever is not, something has gone wrong with the review.
Churches
Supported church
A church that has received a documented intervention from VOG — training, governance support, safeguarding help, financial support or leadership development. A supported church is not a VOG church and is not automatically a church plant.
Established church
A church meeting the formally approved health, governance and sustainability criteria over the required period. A plant is not an established church at launch.
Pastor supported
Approved support delivered to a pastor under the Shepherds Honour Initiative. Reported only as an aggregate count. Identity remains confidential by default, and no figure will ever be accompanied by identifying detail.
Wealth and systems
Wealth outcome
Definition pending board approval. The measurement approach must avoid two failures: reporting nothing, and requiring participants to disclose intrusive personal financial information. Whatever is approved will be published with its method and limitations before any figure appears.
Systems outcome
Definition pending board approval. We will not claim credit for institutional or policy changes that we cannot evidence a contribution to.
Evidence status
Every published figure carries one of these labels.
Self-reported
The figure comes from what participants or churches told us. Useful, and not independent.
VOG-verified
We have checked the underlying records ourselves against a documented method.
Independently verified
An external party has verified the figure. The verifier is named.
What we will never do
- Report views, followers, impressions or downloads as disciples, converts or leaders.
- Combine different response types into one large number.
- Publish a figure without its date range, geography, definition and evidence status.
- Quietly revise a figure. Corrections are published as corrections.