SOCIAL IMPACT MEASUREMENTv
An ecosystem approach to impact in impact investment

Tris Lumley, Director of Development, NPC & Co-Chair, Social Value International@trismlIncreasing focus on impact measurement
Challenge of rigour & appropriate use

Measurement ecosystem & social investment
Building an ecosystem

Increasing focus on impact measurement
Challenge of rigour & appropriate use

Measurement ecosystem & social investment
Building an ecosystem

IMPACT MEASUREMENT MADE SIMPLE
Answering key questions

What’stheproblem?

What will
success
look like?

How will
weachieve
success?

How will
we know
if it’sworking?

How canwe learn&improve?

THE PURPOSE OF IMPACT MEASUREMENT

Communicating anddecisionmaking

Learning,
managingandimproving

Contributing
to a body ofknowledge

Holdingourselves
accountable

WHAT DOES THE
EVIDENCE SAY?
Is impact measurement living up to its
purpose?

WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS

Most UK charities have increased their measurement efforts
Don’t know
Yes, we dolessNo
Yes, we do
more
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Question: Has the amount of effort your organization puts into measuring its impact changed during thelast five years? N=755

THERE ARE REAL BENEFITS

Impact measurement can help charities learn & improve
Improved services

Better able to demonstrate our results

Improved targeting of those we help

Increased funding

Improved allocation of spending and…
Improved strategy

Improved practices and policies in your…
Partnerships with other organizations

Don’t know

Increased publicity

Improved practices and policies in other…
Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

Question: In the last year, has measuring your impact led to any of the following benefits? N=755BUT THE DRIVER IS FUNDING

Funders drive measurement efforts, not charities themselves
A change in funders’ requirements

Impact measurement prioritised bytrustees/chief executive/senior management

Increased support for measurement fromfunders

Wanted to be more competitive/keep up withbest practice
Wanted to improve our services

Wanted to know the difference our services
were making

Hired someone with monitoring and evaluation
skills
Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Question: What were the main reasons for this increase [in impact measurement efforts?] N=550

WHO’S DRIVING GROWTH IN EVALUATION?
Historical background on UK measurement & evaluation•Government historical driver of much evaluation•Top-down imposition of measurement frameworks••

Rise of new public management > targets and measurement culture– e.g. Every Child Matters, Supporting People

Gradual increase in demand for evaluation from foundations &philanthropists
Impact measurement & evaluation in non-profit sector driven by funders
Limited ability of non-profits to determine their own measurement needs& limited ability to embed measurement practice beyond reporting10IMPACT INVESTORS FOCUS ON IMPACT

But there’s no comparable data even if they sought itIMPACT INVESTORS CAN’T SEEK MAX IMPACT

Instead are they just after some impact, and max financial return?

Impossible to compare social impact in 85-98% of cases+

IT’S NOT CLEAR IMPACT MEASUREMENT IS
ON THE RIGHT TRACK• Not clear we’re learning &improving• Impact measurement stilllargely driven by funders& investors• Unclear it’s really driving
decision-making• Lack of investment ininfrastructure & standards• Lack of investment inorganisations’ capacityIncreasing focus on impact measurement
Challenge of rigour & appropriate use

Measurement ecosystem & social investment
Building an ecosystem

IN THEORY NONPROFITS FOCUS ON IMPACT
Parallel models – funding and activity

Funding+Activity=
ImpactRaise
resources
Deliverinterventions
Createsocialimpact

BUT IN PRACTICE FOCUS CAN BE £Risk is organisation becomes the central purpose
Non-strategic
funding+
Non-strategic
Activity=
Lack of lasting
impactFunders'
demands takepriority to raise
resources
Organizational
survival takes
priority over mission
Benefit tofunders,boards,staff andvolunteers

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE SECTOR LEVEL?
The danger is it’s about organisations, not impact
Non-strategic
funding+Non-strategic
Activity=Lack of lasting
impactIncreasing focus on impact measurement
Challenge of rigour & appropriate use

Measurement ecosystem & social investment
Building an ecosystem

THE PURPOSE OF IMPACT MEASUREMENT

Communicating anddecisionmaking

Learning,
managingandimproving

Contributing
to a body ofknowledge

Holding
ourselvesaccountable

AN ECOSYSTEM FOR IMPACT MEASUREMENT
Different roles in the ecosystem for different institutionsUnderstanding
service users’
needs anddesires

Extracting
learning frompractice &evaluation

Establishing whatis already known
from research &practiceComparing
performance &results

Recommending
best practices
likely to increase
impactManaging quality& performance

Understanding
collective impact

WORKING TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE
How can we ensure impact measurement ‘works’?

We need to be clear on questions we seek to answer:•Before funding decisions/programme design•

During delivery•

After when reviewing, learning & improving

Before we design an intervention/programme/productFieldWhat do we know?

Organisations

What should we do?

PeopleWhat are your priorities /needs / desires?

BeforeField

From perspectiveof sector

Organisations

From perspectiveof leaders/managers

PeopleFrom perspectiveof those served

What should ourpriorities be?

What do weknow?

What should wedo?

DuringField-level
priorities

Field-level
evidence /‘What Works’Programme
designWhat are your priorities /needs / desires?
Survey panel

How should wecollaborate?
Recommended
practices

After

Field-level
collaboration
How are wedoing comparedto others?

How are wedoing?
What should wechange?

Pooled funding

Sharedmeasurement /Benchmarks

Performance
management

How can we serve you
better?
Constituent
voice /
Feedback

How are wedoing collectively?
What do we need tochange?
What have welearned that will
improve services?
What works forwhom, in whatcircumstances?

Impactevaluation

DataLabs

How did we do?
Where did we fail?
How do we sharewhat we’ve learned?

Summative
evaluation

How can we serve you
better next time?
Constituent
voice /
Feedback

The UK social investment market saw someattempts to build a measurement ecosystem

TAXONOMY FOR IMPACT MEASUREMENT
Illustrative example of three key outcome areas fromBig Society Capital Outcomes Matrix

Physicalhealth• Improved
access tohealthcare• Improved
quality of life

Mental health• Reduced
stigma ofmentalhealth• Improved
quality of life

Education &learning• Improved
academicsuccess• Improved
preparation
foremployment

TAXONOMY FOR IMPACT MEASUREMENT
Building the detail in key outcome areas
Top level:
Outcome area

Fourth level:
Measurement &indicators

Improved
access tohealthcare

Improved
quality of life

Increased
involvement indecisionmaking

Reducedwaiting times
for treatment

Score onOPTION tool

Hospital waitingtime measures

Bottom-up consensus

Third level:
Sub-outcomesTop-down research

Second level:
Key outcomesPhysical healthIncreasing focus on impact measurement
Challenge of rigour & appropriate use

Measurement ecosystem & social investment
Building an ecosystem

OUR ATTEMPTS TO HELP BUILD ECOSYSTEM
The origins of Inspiring Impact•

Need for unified guidance– What is good practice?
– What’s proportionate?
– How to improve?

••– How to standardise?

Government desire to improvepractice & standardise by subsector
Collaborative programme– 10 year partnership of key bodies– Backed by government & key funders– Work towards standardisation forsocial investment field28

THE CYCLE OF GOOD IMPACT
PRACTICE••••

Communicate
information about yourimpact
Learn from your findings
and use them to improveyour work

Make sense of theinformation you’vecollected about impact
Draw conclusions about
the impact you’ve had
and compare findings
against your plan••4

1

ReviewPlan3

2

AssessDo••

Identify your desiredimpact and how todeliver it
Understand what tomeasure about yourimpact, identify theinformation you needand how to collect it

Deliver the work andimpact
Collect the information
you need about impact

MEASURING UP!
What is Measuring Up?
• Online, step-by-step self-assessment tool
• Enables you to review and improve your organisation’s impact
practice• Looks at the way you plan, evidence, communicate and learn
from the difference your work makes

Why use it?
• If you are new to measurement and impact practice it gives
you the basic questions that you need to ask yourself to getstarted—and it is motivating to see your progress as you get
improve your impact practice and complete Measuring Up!
again after a little while• If you are already doing impact measurement, Measuring Up!
can help you understand where your strengths and gaps are—and prompt you to prioritise where you want to improve

THE IMPACT HUB
What if you lack the tools?
Inspiring Impact can help you.

• The Impact Hub is a one-stop
shop for hundreds of tested
impact resources and tools• The tools can help you
through all of the impact
cycle, right from planning tovisualising your results• Most of the tools are free touse• Search by type of tool, oroutcome area

BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM
Learning and reflections• Acknowledge tensions in impact investment– Investors want ‘dealflow’ – can treat social impact as box totick, then focus on financial returns– Lack of patience and investment in standardisation• There’s no single ‘right’ approach to measurement• Invest in infrastructure for capturing/sharing impact data

• Invest in networks (people) for building practice (eg SVI)
• Balance top-down and bottom-up approaches– Consensus from bottom-up, driven by practitioners– Coordination from top-down, aligning investors32

To build an ecosystem:• Different roles for different institutions• Build on research from top-down• Build on practice from bottom-up• Invest in the long-term

THANK YOU
Please get in touch:

NPC (New Philanthropy Capital) www.thinknpc.org

v - tris.lumley@thinknpc.org twitter - @trisml
email