Sinzer Blog

In the philanthropic sector, measuring social impact is still perceived as a challenge. The number of projects a social investors funds, combined with their diversity often result in large time and resource investments for both the investor and the investee (or grantee). Many social investors therefore feel they do not have the means to measure more than a few outputs, like the number of participants or workshops, or the total amount of volunteer work. Although this is a good starting point, it only scratches the surface of what the project or program has established, and tells you nothing about the true impact (and value) it has created. Has the target audience really been reached? Have their circumstances been changed? Only by giving a voice to the beneficiaries will you be able to decide if the right investment choices have been made.

Currently there are $7 trillion in assets held by the wealthiest 1,000 people in the world. An increasing number of “High Net Worth Individuals” (HNWI) are giving a way (parts) of their fortune to philanthropy. This trend was boosted by The Giving Pledge, an initiative from Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in which 137 HNWI have already commited to give more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes during their lifetime or in their will. A good example is the Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has recently announced to give away his entire $32 billion fortune to philanthropy!

More and more people are beginning to understand that impact investing will become a big part of the future of finance. Currently, over 1200 asset owners and investment managers responsible for 60 trillion dollar have become signatories of the UN Principles for Responsible Investments. That’s over 30% of total funds under management!

But have you ever wondered how an investor becomes an impact investor?

Watch this video for a short introduction about social impact investing:

We all love Excel. For making spreadsheets, analysing data, or simply making some calculations. But when we are measuring and managing social impact, is Excel really the way to go?

Although many organizations are trying to capture social value behind their desk, we believe that “value is in the eye of the stakeholder, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. This statement underlines the importance of involving your stakeholders before and during your social impact measurement.

How would you describe an ideal development sector? In my view, this would entail development programmes being designed or adjusted based on continuously updated results of past and current programmes. Not just from your own organisation or region, but from all development and aid programmes carried out by all NGOs that operate worldwide. Wishful thinking, or realistic prospect?

Stelt u zich eens voor dat u de minister van Milieu en Infrastructuur bent: hoe beslist u over de aanleg van een snelweg? U moet rekening houden met de wensen van uw achterban en andere partijen in de coalitie. Gelukkig geven inschattingen van de kosten en de baten inzicht in de toegevoegde waarde van de verschillende opties.

Foundations receive a lot of requests for their funding. But how can they decide which project will be the most effective? How can they learn from current projects in order to make better-informed investing decisions, and improve the impact of the foundation as a whole? Measuring outputs alone, like the number of participants or workshops, or the total amount of volunteer work, only scratches the surface of the total impact of a program or project. This does not provide enough information to determine whether a project is effective or not. Has the target group been reached by the project? Have their circumstances really been changed? Only by giving a voice to those people whose lives the project aims to change, we can determine whether the right investment choices have been made.

Social enterprises are united by one common goal: creating social change through business. Though social enterprises aim for both financial as social impact, many are – at least in part – funded by public money, foundations or do-good investors. These funds are granted not to be cashed back in dividend, but rather with the aim of creating as much social impact as possible. You would expect therefore, that all social enterprises know exactly how much social impact they are creating for whom, and which of their actions is the main value driver behind it. Especially because this knowledge holds the key to further amplify their impact, as well as accelerate and scale their businesses. Yet, many social enterprises do not measure their social impact. This blog post provides three key reasons that will surely convince all Social Enterprises (and their funders) to join the measuring camp!

According to a recent JP Morgan/GIIN survey among impact investors, 94% considers measuring social and environmental performance very important because it’s part of their mission. In fact, every impact investor included in this survey thinks impact measurement is important. Most impact investors currently focus on standardised output and outcome indicators to measure their performance, either from the IRIS database or from their own choosing.