What is RBA?
What is Results-Based Accountability (RBA)?
Results-Based Accountability™ (RBA), also known as Outcomes Based Accountability™ (OBA) in England and Northern Ireland, is a disciplined way of thinking and taking action that communities can use to improve the lives of children, youth, families, adults and the community as a whole. RBA is also used by organisations to improve the performance of their programs. It was developed by Mark Friedman and described in his book Trying Hard is Not Good Enough. Read more here.
I trained in RBA with Mark who is very inspiring and encouraging, and I subsequently enhanced my facilitation skills with the hugely talented David Burnby. David has worked for over 20 years with clients that have included Local Authorities, neighbourhood renewal partnerships, and NHS bodies in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. He generously shares all his resources and case studies with anyone who wants them.
I continue to be excited and motivated to use the RBA approach in my work because it breaks down hierarchies and moves groups from talk to action and a strong sense of purpose.
What’s different about Results-Based Accountability?
RBA uses a data-driven, decision-making process to help communities and organisations get beyond talking about problems to taking action to solve problems. It is a simple, common-sense framework that everyone can understand. RBA starts with ends and works backward, towards means. The “end” or difference you are trying to make looks slightly different if you are working on a broad community level or are focusing on your specific program or organisation.
Why use RBA?
RBA improves the lives of children, families, and communities and the performance of programs because it:
Gets from talk to action quickly.
Is a simple, common-sense process that everyone can understand.
Helps groups to surface and challenge assumptions that can be barriers to innovation.
Builds collaboration and consensus.
Uses data and transparency to ensure accountability for both the well-being of people and the performance of programs.
Strategic planning for poverty reduction using RBA
RBA has been effectively utilised in the development of strategic plans to address a wide range of social challenges, including poverty. Through its framework, communities and organisations first identify the results they want to achieve—such as reducing child poverty, improving health outcomes, or increasing financial security for families. Stakeholders then work together to select measurable indicators that reflect progress toward these outcomes. Examples include tracking the percentage of people moving from benefits to sustained employment, or the number of families accessing affordable housing.
Improving advice and support services
One notable application of RBA has been in the design and delivery of better advice and support services. Local authorities and non-profit agencies have used RBA to plan advice centres around tangible outcomes, such as:
Increasing the proportion of clients successfully managing debt
Improving digital access for benefit applications
Reducing the time required for vulnerable individuals to receive housing or social care support
By encouraging service providers to review their processes and monitor what works, RBA helps ensure that resources are directed toward interventions that bring meaningful improvements to people's lives.
Collaboration and accountability
Regular evaluation, data-sharing, and public reporting are key aspects of RBA. This supports a culture where strategic planning is grounded in evidence and shared accountability. Across the UK and Ireland, this results-driven approach has strengthened collaboration among government, the voluntary sector, and communities—helping them tackle poverty and deliver more responsive advice and support services for those in need.
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