Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) is a focus area for social enterprises (SEs), social enterprise support organisations (SESOs) and other impact-driven or social businesses alike. Euclid Network believes that efficient impact tracking can support organisations – of all shapes and sizes – to scale and grow their activities. In the case of SEs and SESOs, impact measurement is also an opportunity to check their activities against their mission and prevent mission drift.
Join us in reviewing the latest results of the Annual Membership Consultation 2022-2023
EN members work across the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The mostly selected SDGs include 17. Partnerships for the Goals, 10. Reduced Inequalities and 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities. This speaks to the objective of these organisations in promoting a systemic change towards a greener, fairer, and more inclusive economy.
When asked to estimate the SDGs sought by their beneficiaries, EN members predominantly indicated 4. Quality Education, 3. Good Health and well-being and 8. Decent work and economic growth. It is particularly interesting to understand how the activities at the SESO level can support SEs in achieving their goals. For the SESOs themselves, this is a reminder and an opportunity to check their services offering against the real needs and target impact areas of their members.
The report has shown too that socially conscious procurement has been expanding steadily over the past years among SESOs. Many opportunities remain untapped, though, and significant potential exists to foster a steep increase in social procurement in the coming years. EN members highlighted the importance and willingness to work together to further develop their capacities on this topic and strengthen the social procurement understanding and practise nationally.
Impact Measurement by EN Members
Measuring and managing impact is essential for social enterprises and their support organisations, and the awareness and desire by members to further learn and improve their own impact management and measurement practices within Euclid Network is proof of that.
65% of survey respondents already measure their impact, and 32% plan to begin measuring soon. IMM activities are most often carried on a yearly-basis, yet project-based IMM is also common within Euclid Network.
1 in 2 respondents have developed their own impact measurement framework, however, universities or social finance providers have also played a role in the development of organisations’ impact measurement framework.
Surveys were the most common data collection method across the impact-measuring respondents (82%), followed by 1-1 consultations (36%) and activity data (understood as project data) at 32%. Focus groups and storytelling were also mentioned by some of these members as an effective data collection method.
There’s yet much work to standardise impact measurement requirements and comparable indicators. Euclid Network is a strong believer that EN members can also benefit from continued learning in communicating impact and integrating impact principles in their day-to-day business.
Stay tuned to Euclid Network to find out more about impact measurement and management across Social Enterprises and intermediary organisations alike.
Stay tuned for the next deep-dives in the State of the Industry 2022-2023 Report!
