2014/05/01 by Alnoor Ebrahim, V. Kasturi Rangan · 7 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Community Development and Social Impact #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
paper · doi:10.1525/cmr.2014.56.3.118
Organizations with social missions, such as nonprofits and social enterprises, are under growing pressure to demonstrate their impacts on pressing societal problems such as global poverty. This article draws on several cases to build a performance assessment framework premised on an organization's operational mission, scale, and scope. Not all organizations should measure their long-term impact, defined as lasting changes in the lives of people and their societies. Rather, some organizations would be better off measuring shorter-term outputs or individual outcomes. Funders such as foundations and impact investors are better positioned to measure systemic impacts.