What is Impact Measurement? Introducing Our Newest Guide

Creating impact is at the heart of every social enterprise – but actually quantifying that impact is a real challenge. Simply put, impact measurement is an ongoing process that helps organizations understand how their work is benefitting the communities they serve, in both the short and long term. The core concept is simple, but putting it into practice in a way that works for your social enterprise is not nearly as straightforward. 

In our latest guide, How to Measure Your Social Impact as a Social Enterprise, we help demystify the space of impact measurement by giving you the context, tools, and resources you need to make sense of impact measurement and how it can work for you. 

Check out this video walkthrough for a quick tour of the guide, along with key takeaways by section: 

The guide is broken down into 11 sections, starting with the history, and ending with how to become an expert:

1. What Is Impact Measurement
2. Impact Measurement vs. Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
3. The History of Impact Measurement
4. Useful Impact Measurement Frameworks
5. When Impact Measurement Goes Wrong — Common Mistakes
6. Impact Measurement Influencers Worth Following
7. Books About Impact Measurement
8. The Best Impact Measurement Articles
9. Ten Impact Measurement Principles
10. Examples of Impact Reports from Social Enterprises
11. How To Get Started With Impact Measurement – 6 Steps to Take

At the end of the guide, we share six steps you can take to begin and/or improve on the way you measure and report on impact at your social impact organization. Each step is explained in more detail in our social impact measurement guide here, and we even include a template that you can download at the end of the guide:

We produce a lot of educational content like this about a variety of social impact and social enterprise topics, so if you enjoy this guide, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn so you never miss an update!

Looking for additional support scaling the impact and revenue of your social enterprise? Apply to our S-GRID Accelerator for social enterprises. 

Interested in a career in impact measurement, monitoring, and evaluation? Apply to the MovingWorlds Institute social impact and career transition program for professionals.