Keep it simple, and consistent
- Impact Track
- 8 de dez. de 2017
- 2 min de leitura
Atualizado: 25 de jan. de 2018
“Social impact measurement is fashionable, but not only that”
That is how Professor Henry Peter, Head of the Geneva Centre for Philanthropy, concluded the Philanthropy lunch, on the 21st of November 2017, focused on “Impact Measurement – What's new?".
The complexity dimension was something extensively discussed on the meeting. While the evaluation must take into consideration the local context comprehensively, it should not prevent the application of social impact measurement by practitioners willing to manage the outcomes of their interventions.
Practitioner can easily get confused in the ocean of existing methodologies and approaches. Some of them are listed at the bottom and published by different organizations with a similar content, but different approach and depth.
There are softwares that aim to support the accountability of social impact, however, users say that “complexity of certain measurement systems makes them hard to use” as they are usually “over-engineered” (Source: The Pulse of Impact Management. Study based upon 18 interviews with impact investors conducted in August 2016).
Studies that aim at precision, such as cost-benefit analysis, are costly and take too long to be elaborated, which turns out to be used only ex-post by big organizations and governments. On the other hand, studies that concentrate only on the management of outputs and funds, rarely capture the most important aspects for the impact management: the value generated to stakeholders.
The challenge is to keep it simple, but consistent, reflecting the most relevant impacts of the organization. So, how can we do that? Impact Track comes with the aim to provide social entrepreneurs and investors with a simple framework to follow up their impact transparently. Stay tuned for new developments.
Some existing methodologies and approaches on the field:
Thanks for sharing this very interesting article!