Tag Archive for: measuring impact

3 Key Questions: How We Define and Evaluate Kingdom Impact

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By Will Thomas

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Ambassadors Impact Network

Ambassadors Impact Network (AIN) is an angel investment network based in Dallas, Texas, connecting Christian accredited investors with gospel-advancing entrepreneurs. Since inception in 2018, our members have deployed over USD $20 million across more than 50 companies and funds. In addition to targeting competitive financial returns, we are equally committed to seeking intentional and measurable spiritual impact.

One of the most common inquiries we receive from prospective members and applicant entrepreneurs relates to how we define, evaluate, and measure these kingdom returns. At the heart of our approach is a recognition that entrepreneurs come from diverse spiritual backgrounds, each with unique giftings, passions, and contexts. Therefore, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to gospel advancement. Instead, we encourage entrepreneurs to articulate how they intend to make Jesus known through three key aspects of their businesses: codified values, business activities, and products and/or services. Below are the questions we ask in our application and some background on each.

1. Incorporating biblical truth into company values

Does your company include biblical principles in the corporate documents (such as mission statement, manuals, etc.)?

Context and examples: Scripture tells us repeatedly of the immense power of words. “A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook” (Proverbs 18:4). Indeed, it is through speech that our God brings things into existence. Similarly, we believe that the values of a company, when explicitly stated, play an enormous role in shaping organizational culture, guiding decision-making, and providing a stable foundation for God-glorifying growth. In our diligence process, we ask applicants to share about their corporate values, their alignment with biblical principles, and the extent to which these are formally codified in corporate documents, such as in mission statements, operating manuals, external communications, employee policies, etc. Read more

How Can We Measure an Organisation’s Kingdom Impact?

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by James Waters

Five years ago, I quit my job to explore whether it was possible to measure the Kingdom of God coming through businesses and non-profits all over the world. My background was researching and helping the largest secular development organisations understand if they were being effective. I had seen how measuring complex aspects of human social and economic well-being, and organisations’ processes could move from seemingly impossible, to practical and standardised. And yet the concept of measuring ‘spiritual impact’ remained elusive.

Five years later, after hundreds of conversations, dozens of metrics reviewed, multiple assessment tools developed and organisations analysed, I am convinced it is not only possible, but critical. 

Several years ago, BAM Global identified three Big Hair Audience Goals (BHAGs) for the BAM movement at large. In order to know if we are making progress according to the first BHAG: ‘Solve global issues with innovative BAM solutions’ — we need to know if BAM organisations within the movement are having an impact! The recent State of the BAM Movement Report we published in partnership with BAM Global indicated that indeed, many companies are tackling social and spiritual issues, but we want to have evidence of that impact.

Likewise, we want to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. In my opinion, that looks like knowing the impact of our organisations or investments, so that we can a) help address the needs of those we are serving or working alongside more accurately, b) improve the processes of our organisations so we are more effective, and c) celebrate what God is doing with all our stakeholders.

But how can this be done? How can a Kingdom business leader move from anecdote about their spiritual and social impact, to actual evidence? And how can we become leaders who truly understand our Kingdom impact?[1]

The ‘How’ of Kingdom Impact Measurement

There are many ways to measure Kingdom Impact, but there are three key principles that I have learned from approaching this challenge to date:  Read more

Three Things the State of the BAM Movement Report Tells Us About BAM

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by James Waters & Jo Plummer

As part of the lead-in to the BAM Global Congress last year, BAM Global, in partnership with Eido Research, conducted the State of the BAM Movement Survey to get a snapshot of the global business as mission movement. Watch James’ Video Introduction here.

In response to the Survey, Eido Research have produced a State of the BAM Movement Report. Here are three things it tells us:

1. The BAM Movement is Still Young, but Truly Global

Enough people responded to make a representative sample of our global list, and it revealed that it is still quite a young movement. The majority of companies are less than ten years old, and a good additional number (12% of surveyed) looking to start a business soon. However, the BAM Movement is truly global! Although there are a handful of countries where there is a concentration of BAM businesses, there is a diverse global spread.

 

The global map above shows the distribution of active BAM businesses,
according to their turnover. Each dot represents a country, the size of the
dot represents the number of businesses in that country, and the colour represents the average turnover.

 

As João Mordomo writes for the Foreword for Neal Johnson’s new book on BAM, “Business as mission is not a new concept. It has, however, taken on new meaning for the church and her mission in the 21st Century. The modern BAM Movement started about 25 years ago and, like other great movements of God — being God-ordained, God-ignited, God-led, and God-blessed — it began to take shape simultaneously in different places around the global by way of different and diverse groups of people.”

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The State of the BAM Movement Report Overview [Video]

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Video Presentation by James Waters

 

 James Waters of Eido Research shares some preliminary findings from the results of the State of the BAM Movement Survey – recorded at the BAM Global Congress in April 2021.

>>Download State of the Movement Report Here

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