Tris Lumley, Benedict Rickey and Matthew Pike

This report is a summary of a debate held in September 2011, at which 30 leaders in the field of social impact measurement came together for an Impact Summit. The starting point for discussions was simple: more social organisations need help to be focused on impact, using measurement to demonstrate their achievements and improve the way they work, ultimately changing more people’s lives. The participants discussed how leadership and collaboration could make social impact measurement part of everyday practice for the social sector.

The report begins by setting out the benefits of impact measurement, reviewing what it would look like in an ideal world, and explaining why now is the time to embrace it. The report identifies five factors involved in encouraging or holding back the development of impact measurement, which are: incentives, resources, capacity and skills, support available, and the way that results are used.

The authors propose making the next ten years the decade of high impact for charities, social enterprises, funders, commissioners and social investors.

New Philanthropy Capital, in association with Views, supported by NESTA: London, December 2011. 33pp. Free to download at: http://www.philanthropycapital.org/download/default.aspx?id=1176