4 Resources to Help You Decide What to Measure
BAM companies have a lot to learn from the social enterprise movement. One of the things that social enterprises have been thinking about for a long time is: How do we measure more than the financial bottom line? Here are 4 resources that will help you think about metrics more holistically and give you tools to measure your impact.
B Corps Impact Assessment
B Corps advocates for measuring what matters most: the ability of a business to not only generate returns, but also to create value for its customers, employees, community, and the environment. Use B Corps online tool to assess how your company performs against dozens of best practices on employee, community, and environmental impact. Compare your company’s impact with thousands of others. Create a plan to improve your company’s practices, and help your staff implement them easily using the Best Practice Guides.
IRIS
IRIS is a free, online catalog of generally accepted performance metrics that leading impact investors use to measure social, environmental, and financial success. Follow a step by step guide for choosing a metrics framework. The guide is designed for fund managers and impact investors, however, the concepts, tips, and practical examples will be useful to any company or organisation looking to get a broader understanding of measuring multiple bottom lines. B Corps assessments (above) and their benchmarking tool GIIRS are built on IRIS standards.
The Social Return on Investment Guide
The Guide to Social Return on Investment provides a clear framework for anyone interested in measuring, managing and accounting for the social value or impact of an organisation. The SROI Guide is the result of consultation with practitioners, members, academics and others with an interest social and environmental value and impact measurement. The Guide is available to download free from the Social Value UK website.
Relational Analytics
This tool emerged from a firmly-held belief that good relationships have the power to change families, organisations and whole communities. The relational metrics enable organizations to measure, for purposes of reporting and improvement, the actual quality of their internal and external relationships. They allow an organization to develop a nuanced understanding of strengths and weaknesses arising from its own relational capital, and how those strengths and weaknesses may impact on third party relationships.
Need more help on how to apply metrics to a BAM company? Download the Measuring BAM Impact Report
Compiled by Jo Plummer with thanks to the Measuring Impact Issue Group.
