We present an integrated approach to the quantitative assessment of science communication activities of research projects. In particular, we introduce the community engagement index and the communication effectiveness quadrants plot. The former is a metric integrating all communication activities into one single index and representing the engagement of a community with the project. The latter is a dynamic graph to monitor and improve the performance of communication products. Our methodology can be applied to research initiatives of different kinds and geographical scope. Indeed it has been tested on a diverse set of EU-funded projects on disparate thematic areas.