IMPACT MEASUREMENT WORKSHEET
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Identify Existing Impact
Quantitative Questions to Consider
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Audience: Who is being impacted? What is their socioeconomic background?
! Reach: How many people are being affected by my products/services? !
Market Need: Does my organization a community with high poverty and unemployment rates, or one that is underserved?
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Employment: How many of your employees come from vulnerable communities or are minorities?
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Community: Does the my organization offer financial education and entrepreneurial training? How does it facilitate community development activities?
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Partnerships: How does the organization work with local nonprofits, government agencies, or affiliates to achieve its mission in the community?
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What livelihood assets does your business impact? Check all that apply:
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Human Capital Health Nutrition Education Knowledge and Skills
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Capacity to work
Natural Capital Land and Produce Water Resources Waste Management Trees and Wildlife Wild foods and fibre Biodiversity
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Environmental Services
Financial Capital Credit/Debt Savings Remittances Pensions
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Wages
Physical Capital Transportation Clean Energy Infrastructure Tools and equipment for production Water supply and sanitation
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Secure Shelter
Social Capital Networks and Connection Hubs Partnerships (Cross-Sector, Mutual Trust, etc.) Common rules and sanctions for an industry/business Collective representation Mechanisms for decision-making Leadership
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Put It Into Practice
We tend to think of impact as big and positive, but this leads us to often overlook the small but equally crucial details. Impact is direct and indirect, positive and negative, intentional and consequential.
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Here is an exercise to better understand how your organization impacts the people you serve or provide for while accounting for assumptions and biases. Testing assumptions can allow us to discern what is accepted as true without proof to what actually happened with certainty.
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What are the intended outcomes of the work you put in? If possible, use your livelihood assets.
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What of your intended outcomes can be be observed and therefore measured? If possible, use quantifiable metrics.
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Key Assumptions
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Key Assumptions
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What has changed that is attributable Key Assumptions to your activities? If change has not occurred, use hypotheses. • • • •
Action Checklist: Best Practices in Measurement
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Check the boxes after you have established your impact metrics and method of measurement.
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Frame expected results with action-orientation.
! Acknowledge your biases and assumptions.
! Seek out and use secondary or alternative data sources.
! Measurement is realistic, prudent, and frugal to be feasible.
! Set up a metric check frequency to establish a baseline
! Reach out for and listen to dissenting voices
! Recognize negative consequences of work
! Establish feedback loops that measure what to keep doing, stop doing, and start doing
! Share your results publicly
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