Read the latest expert insights, trends, and best practices around impact measurement and leveraging actionable data to drive meaningful change.
Whether your organization is a mid-sized nonprofit focused on animal welfare, a small family foundation that serves at-risk youth, or a large corporation that has recently launched several corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, you know that the work you do has real effects.
For instance, you might see firsthand how a beneficiary's life is improved because of your services, or hear from a dedicated volunteer that working with your organization has been a fulfilling part of their life.
But many of the stakeholders who support your work don't have the luxury of seeing your mission in action every day.
This is why it's essential to carefully measure and analyze the impact you're having on your community and report it to stakeholders through a process called impact measurement . In this guide, we'll explore everything you need to know about impact measurement and how you can get started:
Once you master impact measurement, you'll have concrete data on your side that empowers you to stay accountable to stakeholders and make data-driven decisions that shape the future of your organization. Let's begin!
Impact measurement and management is a fairly new focus area in the mission-driven space, so if you're unfamiliar with it, you're not alone. In this section, we'll bring you up to speed on all the basics you need to know by answering some common questions.
First things first, you need to understand the concept of impact.
Impact refers to the tangible changes or results that your organization generates for its community as outlined by its mission, vision, and goals.
Depending on the nature of your organization's work, you may have an impact on one or more of the following:
To communicate the impact your organization is making, you need to understand how to evaluate and report it effectively. That's where impact measurement comes in.
Impact measurement, also known as impact measurement and management (IMM), is a process that involves evaluating the effectiveness of your programs, initiatives, and interventions to determine if you're delivering your intended results or benefits to your target beneficiaries.
This means going beyond just tracking what your organization does daily, like hosting events, putting volunteers to work, or delivering services, and looking closely at the short- and long-term positive outcomes of the work you're doing.
Let's examine the importance of impact measurement from the perspective of mission-driven organizations and their stakeholders.
Measuring organizational impact is important for:
For the stakeholders who support mission-driven work, impact measurement is important for:
Now that you understand what impact measurement is and the value it can bring to your organization and your stakeholders, you're likely ready to dive into evaluating your own organization's impact.
Follow these steps to get started:
In order for your impact measurement efforts to lead to positive outcomes for your organization, its beneficiaries, and its stakeholders, you need to know what you want to achieve through the process.
Of course, you want to make headway on your organization's overarching mission, but it will make the process more manageable to break this larger objective into more granular goals.
Here are a few examples of manageable objectives to inspire you:
Think of the objectives you identify as your North Star, the thing that will guide you through the rest of the impact measurement process and keep you anchored to your organization's larger purpose and vision.
As you select the specific objectives you want to use as your North Star, don't worry about identifying specific success indicators. That will come a little later in the process.
Data refers to the raw facts and figures you need to collect and analyze in order to evaluate your organization's impact.
You can use both quantitative and qualitative data to measure your impact:
From the get-go, commit to working with both quantitative and qualitative data. This will give you a fuller picture of your organization's impact once you begin analyzing your data for insights.
Similar to key performance indicators (KPIs), KIIs are measurable values that help you see the progress you've made toward your objectives. The KIIs you choose will inform the data collection and analysis steps coming up.
Here are some examples of KIIs:
As you come up with KIIs that align with your own objectives, try to go a little deeper than surface-level indicators. For instance, it may be helpful to track the number of people who enroll in a program, but it may be more informative in the end to track the number of people who complete the program or are retained in the program year after year.
At UpMetrics, we recommend that after defining your objectives and choosing your KIIs, you create an Impact Framework. Our platform allows you to build a Framework that connects your objectives and KIIs to your larger mission and vision and specific dimensions of impact:
Here's an snapshot of the Impact Framework building process:
As you can see, on the UpMetrics platform, you're guided through the process of adding objectives, KPIs, and attaching them to specific dimensions of impact. Going through these steps allows you to create a visual (and mental!) map that will help your team think about impact as something you can measure and leverage.
Begin by digging into the data you already have, both quantitative and qualitative. The data that will get most of your focus will largely depend on the KIIs you've picked.
This will require you to identify where your current data lives . If your organization is a small shop, you may only have a few spreadsheets to reference. However, larger organizations may have heaps of data sitting in several different solutions, from donor databases to marketing tools. You'll eventually need to consolidate your data in one place to analyze it. Jump ahead to learn about recommended tools for doing this!
You'll likely want to collect additional data to reference as well. Depending on your KIIs and data needs, you may need to conduct surveys, interviews, or focus groups. You'll also want to look for trends in your donor database and other tools.
Also, consider any publicly available data that can enrich your organization's own collection of data. For instance, perhaps your organization is focused on lowering the unemployment rate in your local area. Publicly available data about unemployment on the state, county, or city level can enrich your understanding of the data your organization has.
When it's time to analyze your data, you'll be looking for changes, trends, and patterns that occur over time. For example, you might see that your adult English as a second language (ESL) classes have increased enrollment every year for the past three years. Or you may see that many focus group participants mentioned something about your email newsletter when asked what your organization could do to improve its marketing efforts.
So, how do you get your data to the point where you can see trends and patterns clearly? It depends on the data type:
If you're intimidated by the prospect of data analysis or know that this skillset is out of your team's wheelhouse, you're not alone. Consider partnering with a data scientist or investing in an impact analysis platform to explore what your data has to say about your work.
Effective data analysis will answer the question, "How close are we to achieving our objectives?" And once you have those answers, it's time to act.
This may involve:
Even if your data is telling you that you haven't made much progress on your goals or that new problems have emerged that need addressing, remember not to be discouraged by your findings. Let your insights spur positive change and optimism for better results in the future.
Having the right tools at your disposal will make your impact measurement efforts easier and more successful. As you consider the top providers below, take into account your organization's needs, budget, goals, and plans for scaling up in the future so that you pick the right fit.
UpMetrics is the leading provider of impact measurement and management software for nonprofits, foundations, impact investors, and CSR-focused corporations.
With our user-friendly tools, your organization can tap into our DeCAL methodology for impact measurement. DeCAL stands for:
UpMetrics stands out because of our team of social sector experts. Through our managed services offering, you can tap into their expertise on:
Better yet, we'll help you become an expert in impact measurement too, transitioning you to becoming self-powered on our platform over time.
We also offer freemium access to our platform via our IMM Suite Starter Plan. This grants your organization free access to our Define functionality, where you can build out your own Impact Framework (and get inspired by Framework examples from other organizations).
Additionally, by working with UpMetrics, you can tap into the power of community by joining our Impact Learning Collectives (free for UpMetrics customers!). Or, if you're a grantmaking organization, you can sponsor the cost of the platform for a group of your grantees through our Cohort program.
Sopact is a software provider committed to helping organizations make sense of their data through careful listening and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data collection and analysis.
They offer two solutions:
ImpactMapper is a provider that puts a special emphasis on helping organizations get the most out of their qualitative data.
Their software empowers organizations to:
Civis Analytics helps its users overcome data silos and unify its information to better understand what motivates their audiences to take action. It's an especially useful tool for mission-driven marketers.
Some of its capabilities include:
Wondering how other organizations have measured and managed their impact, and what it has helped them to accomplish?
Here are a few success stories to inspire you:
Since 2000, America SCORES Chicago has provided free after-school and summer programming to youth that combines soccer, poetry, and service-learning.
The nonprofit partnered with UpMetrics to enhance its reporting efforts and more effectively track student engagement and program effectiveness data.
Now they have easy access to insights on their work that allow them to stay accountable to government funders and school principals. They've also found it easier and faster for their internal team to collect and manage organizational data.
Lime Rock New Energy (LRNE) is a private equity firm that provides capital to businesses and entrepreneurs working to solve the climate crisis.
LRNE decided to work with UpMetrics because they know that understanding the impact their portfolio companies are having on the environment is crucial for making real, lasting, and positive changes for the environment.
Using UpMetrics' tools, they can better measure KIIs like avoided CO2 emissions and help each company identify areas for improvement. Now that they've streamlined data collection, analysis, and reporting, LRNE can more easily manage its investments and report to its limited partners.
Dig deeper into this success story by reading the LRNE case study !
The National Bankers Association Foundation (NBAF) is the nonprofit arm of the National Bankers Association. Through its programming, the foundation supports minority depository institutions (MDI) to ensure underserved communities have access to financial education, services, and tools.
They began working with UpMetrics to improve their data reporting process, which, in the banking world, is critical not only for funding and investing purposes but also for legal compliance.
Now the individual banks associated with the foundation can share their impact stories with their stakeholders, institutional investors can see how their investments are making a difference, and the foundation itself can tell its story to raise awareness of its cause.
Learn more about this impact measurement journey—get the full NBAF case study!
Measuring your organization's impact allows you to quantify and communicate the difference you're making in the world. As you work to measure and manage your own organization's impact, draw on the process outlined above to guide your work.
And remember, the impact measurement journey is one that oftentimes requires support. Consider partnering with a provider like UpMetrics to gain access to the tools and expertise you need to truly understand how much progress you're making on your mission!
Want to keep learning about the world of impact measurement? Here are a few recommended resources from our blog:
