A Beginner’s Guide to Effectively Integrating Social Impact Measurement
Tania Gomes
So, you’ve determined that it’s time for your organization to implement social impact measurement. Now what?
In the current global context, it’s a common dilemma. Leaders of nonprofits and community organizations can see the writing on the wall. Measuring success by typical metrics — dollars raised, membership growth, number of visitors, people served, overhead costs — is no longer sufficient. While those numbers are vital, they don’t measure the true success of an organization in achieving its mission. For organizations committed to truly moving the needle, measuring social impact is key. It is a catalyst for driving positive change, allowing organizations to identify gaps, inefficiencies, and areas of improvement within their operations and across their community programs.
How to Bring Social Impact Measurement to Your Organization
There are a range of tools and frameworks available to help you measure your social impact. The key is to identify the correct options and tailor them to your specific needs, preferences, and resources. Whether you lead an organization that is just starting out on its ESG journey, or one that is looking to reset its strategy to meet strategic objectives, here are some tips for measuring your social impact effectively.
P.S. Still not sure if social impact measurement is right for your team? Read part one for a quick primer on modern social impact frameworks and navigating the ESG maze.
1. Define Social Impact for your Organization
Before you can measure your social impact, it’s critical to define it. This process involves identifying what social impact means for your business and how measuring it effectively may help you achieve your organization’s larger goals and objectives.
Start by conducting a stakeholder analysis to identify who is affected by or interested in your activities and what their needs and expectations are. If you are stuck, just start by asking:
Who benefits from your company, and who doesn’t?
How many people benefit?
How do they/don’t they benefit?
When you map out the answers, you are essentially completing a mind map of all your business’ stakeholders.
In the end, the result is the starting point for developing what’s called a materiality assessment — a list of the social and environmental issues that are most relevant and significant for your business and stakeholders. Review your industry’s ESG Materiality Map using this tool to cross-check your analysis with what’s typical from your sector.
2. Establish the Framework
Once you have defined social impact for your organization, you need to determine how you will measure it. Begin by reviewing the reporting guidelines associated with your materiality assessment. What’s most important is building your framework within the resources and capabilities of your organization.
The first step is to identify the indicators and metrics you will use to track and evaluate your progress against the issues listed in Step 1. Your team should be asking:
What can we reasonably measure?
What data do we need to collect?
What methods, tools, and resources do we have at our disposal to collect and measure it?
What do we need internally to be able to report on these indicators effectively?
This will take a bit of discussion and cross-functional planning, but it should lead to a defined and iterative social impact framework. This framework should clearly show the following:
How your business activities lead to certain outputs
How those outputs achieve your desired outcomes
How to measure the larger impact those outcomes have on your stakeholders
3. Get to Work
Now that your framework is in place, you’re ready to do the work. As you conduct your day-to-day activities, make sure your team is collecting the right data, quality checking its validity, analyzing it against your indicators and metrics, and reporting on your achievements and learnings.
If it feels challenging at first, don’t worry. Know that this process is iterative and dynamic. Know that your data will be messy. Know that it will not be easy. As long as you begin with clear goals and a detailed plan to reach them, you’ll find your way. To help ease some of the growing pains, consider:
Integrated Planning & Reporting
You cannot develop this plan in a vacuum with your ESG lead. Social impact is a transversal concept and should be measured across organizational activities.
Strategic Project Management
Social impact measurement is a huge change management project for an organization, no matter the size. Consider project management techniques or leaders to bring departments out of their silos, hold teams accountable and move deliverables forward.
Iteration is Key
Don’t expect to get it right immediately. When you first get started with social impact measurement, you will likely end up with more gaps and questions than data and answers. That’s part of the process — arguably the most important part. Once you identify what you do not know, you can create space in your plan to build capacity towards finding the answers you need.
Lastly, remember that your framework doesn’t have to be perfect. The key is to get started. Your first attempt will serve as a baseline, allowing space for the organization to improve and evolve over time.
Bonus Tips for Kickstarting Your Social Impact Measurement Framework
Looking for more guidance as you kick off your social impact measurement journey? Check out these two bonus resources for additional support.
Find what’s material to your organization using an ESG Industry Materiality Map
Book Your Social Impact Measurement Workshop
In this primer, we’ve just scratched the surface. Social impact measurement is a complex and evolving field, with new standards and best practices emerging all the time.
To dig deeper and get personalized support for your organization, book a customized Social Impact Measurement 101 workshop from newpact. In Social Impact Measurement 101: Measuring What Matters, you’ll learn the fundamentals of social impact measurement to evaluate your organization's success, including:
Modern social impact measurement methodologies and concepts
Global standards and logic models for measuring impact
Step-by-step guidance for developing a tailored model for your team.
Click here to learn more about booking your customized Social Impact Measurement 101 workshop.