Communication and dissemination reporting in Horizon Europe projects can be surprisingly simple… or surprisingly painful. Very often, the difference is not the amount of communication activities you have implemented. The difference is how well you planned what you would track from the very beginning.
And by the beginning, I do not mean the first reporting period. I mean the proposal writing stage. Yes, the smartest communication report starts before the project even begins.
Good reporting starts with smart planning
When preparing the Impact section of a Horizon Europe proposal, we all want to show ambition. We want strong communication and dissemination KPIs, impressive numbers, wide outreach, engaged stakeholders, and meaningful impact.
And that is exactly how it should be.
However, before adding a KPI to your proposal, ask yourself three very practical questions:
1. Will we actually be able to track this?
2. How exactly will we collect the data?
3. Will we be able to report it in a clear and high-quality way during the project review?
Because if the answer is “we will figure it out later”… well, future you might not be very happy. A good KPI is not only ambitious. A good KPI is measurable. Your communication and dissemination reporting process should support your project – not become more complicated than the actual communication activities.
Think about the EC Portal already when writing the proposal
In Horizon Europe projects, communication and dissemination activities are not something you remember one week before the review meeting. The European Commission expects continuous reporting through the Funding & Tenders Portal. This means that during the project you will need to provide information about your activities, target audiences, channels, results, and impact.
Therefore, already when designing your communication and dissemination strategy, think:
- What information will we need later?
- Where will we store the data?
- Who will collect it?
- How often will we update it?
A good reporting system saves hours (sometimes days!) when preparing the communication report or dissemination report for the project review.
What Communication and Dissemination KPIs can you track?
The best KPIs depend on your project objectives, target audiences, and communication channels. However, here are some examples of indicators that can usually be tracked effectively.
Website Performance
You can track:
- number of website visitors;
- page views;
- geographic reach;
- most visited pages;
- traffic sources.
How to track it?
Using analytics tools and preparing regular monitoring reports. Do not wait until Month 36 to check whether your website reached the planned number of visitors.
Check regularly. Adjust. Improve.
Social Media Communication
Possible KPIs:
- number of followers;
- impressions;
- reach;
- engagement rate;
- reactions, comments, and shares;
- published posts.
How to track it?
Use platform analytics and maintain an internal monitoring file where results are collected consistently.
Remember: screenshots from three years ago are much harder to find one week before the review.
Events and Dissemination activities
Possible KPIs:
- number of organised events;
- participants reached;
- stakeholder groups involved;
- countries represented;
- presentations delivered;
- networking activities.
How to track it?
Create a simple reporting process:
- event name;
- date;
- location;
- organiser;
- audience type;
- number of participants;
- evidence (agenda, photos, links, materials).
Simple. Clear. Review-ready.
Publications, materials and content
You can monitor:
- newsletters published;
- subscribers;
- brochures or factsheets created;
- downloads;
- scientific publications;
- citations of scientific publications;
- Downloads or views of publications;
- media mentions.
The important thing is not only creating communication materials – it is knowing what happened after publishing them.
These are just a few examples, of course, depending on the scope of the proposal, expected impact and other aspects – there might be different types of the KPIs to be tracked
Tracking helps you understand where you stand
Communication and dissemination monitoring is not only about preparing a nice table for the project review. It helps you manage your project.
When you regularly track your KPIs, you know:
- Are we reaching our target audiences?
- Which channels work best?
- Do we need to improve something?
- Are we on track to achieve our objectives?
Sometimes you realise that you need to adjust your communication approach. And sometimes something even better happens. You realise that you have already achieved your KPIs halfway through the project. This has happened often in our work at WIT Berry. And yes – we are extremely proud when we see these results. The whole project team should be proud because successful communication and dissemination is always teamwork. But achieving KPIs does not mean that communication stops. If we have more stories to tell, more results to share, more stakeholders to reach – we continue. Because good communication is not only about reaching numbers in a table. It is about creating real impact.
Report to your consortium partners
Communication and dissemination reporting should not happen only between the communication team and the European Commission. It is equally important to regularly share KPI progress with the whole consortium.
Why?
Because communication and dissemination are a team effort. When partners see where the project stands — which targets have already been achieved, which audiences have been reached, and where more effort is needed — they understand how they can contribute. A simple KPI overview during consortium meetings can make a big difference. It shows whether we need more scientific results to communicate, more event participation, additional stakeholder engagement, or support in reaching specific target groups.
It also creates motivation. Seeing progress visually — for example, “we planned to reach 10,000 stakeholders and we are already at 8,500” — reminds everyone that communication activities create real results.
And when the project is doing exceptionally well? Celebrate it together. Very often, successful communication and dissemination results are possible because partners actively share news, provide content, participate in events, and bring their own networks into the project. Regular KPI reporting keeps everyone involved, aligned, and moving towards the same impact goals.
Final thoughts: make reporting easy for your future self
A strong communication report or dissemination report is not created during the last weeks before a Horizon Europe project review. It is built throughout the whole project. Plan realistic and trackable KPIs. Create a simple monitoring process. Collect evidence continuously. Check your progress regularly. Your future reporting team will thank you. And your project review preparation will be much, much easier.
