Social Impact Measurement
Jared Raynor, n/a
Director, Evaluation and Learning
TCC Group, United States
Morgan Buras-Finlay, MSW
Social Impact Measurement
Raya Cooper Impact Consulting
Daly City, California, United States
Veronica Olazabal, MA (she/her/hers)
Chief Impact and Evaluation Officer
The BHP Foundation
Maplewood, New Jersey, United States
John Sherman, MPH (he/him/his)
Chief Partner
Sherman Impact Consulting
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Location: Room 204
Abstract Information: Evaluation and evaluative thinking (also known as impact measurement and management across the private sector) is gaining traction in market-based contexts (i.e. impact investing, corporate settings) especially among entities that invest in their foundation, corporate responsibility, and in their ESG reporting. But unlike nonprofit and traditional foundations where evaluation is often “in the drinking water”, evaluation and market-based contexts still have a lot to learn about one another. When the value of evaluation is not implicitly understood, how do evaluators talk about what they do? How do they build buy-in for measuring impact in market-based contexts? Does the story of the “big, bad private sector” need to change? What stories do they need to tell about the value propositions? And conversely, what stories do businesses and private-sector collaborators tell about evaluation? How does evaluation battle “green washing”, and become a substantive player in corporate social impact efforts? In this interactive session, our panelists will share stories of how they have communicated the value of evaluation, and facilitate a conversation with the audience about methods, strategies and obstacles.
Relevance Statement: Although responsible companies had already existed for more than a century before, the term Corporate Social Responsibility was officially coined in 1953 by American economist Howard Bowen in his publication Social Responsibilities of the Businessman. However, it wasn’t until the 1970s that CSR truly began to take flight in the United States. In 1971, the concept of the ‘social contract’ between businesses and society was introduced by the Committee for Economic Development, which brought forward the idea that companies function and exist because of public consent and, therefore, are obligated to contribute to the needs of society. By the 1980s, early CSR continued to evolve as more organizations began incorporating social interests in their business practices while becoming more responsive to stakeholders (see https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/history-of-corporate-social-responsibility/). Up through the early 2000s, the primary mechanisms for shaping CSR were either corporate communications/marketing departments or critiques of CSR efforts. Over the last 10 to 15 years, CSR efforts to assess their impact have expanded, responding in part to requests from various rating mechanisms and a shift towards more strategic and intentional giving, including impact investing. Additionally, the diversity of philanthropic programs businesses can bring have expanded, including employee engagement, signature initiatives, product donations, impact investing, and grantmaking. In the last couple of years, companies have made a variety of commitments towards equity and social justice, becoming increasingly prominent funders of social sector issues. Along a parallel path, investors have been seeking ways to align their money with their values and support the growth of businesses that have explicit commitment to measurable social and environmental impact. This movement was formally dubbed “Impact Investing” in 2007 by The Rockefeller Foundation. Since then, deliberate infrastructure investments have been made to build the norms, principles, structures, networks, standard bearers, and best practices for the impact investing market. However, the value of such corporate and investment commitments to social good are still unknown, largely due to a lack of evaluative infrastructure assessing its effectiveness. Beyond the question of benefit to the bottom line (something that has proved elusive to prove), the scale of social good investing by corporations merits greater ongoing scrutiny. With increased visible corporate commitments for social good, along with ongoing rating agency reporting requirements and internal accountability needs, evaluators need to assert a more prominent role at the table. But gaining access to the table will require an ability to demonstrate skill in navigating numerous stakeholder demands and actions in market-based contexts. This session is about honing that story–the value proposition for evaluation in the market economy. In this session, panelists will share and discuss their experiences working in market-based contexts, including corporate organizations, corporate philanthropies and impact investing. They will discuss how they approached and what they learned about how to talk about, communicate and build buy-in for evaluation and impact measurement, and invite the audience to discuss and share what stories and methods would be most compelling, to help market-actors get excited about the potential of impact measurement.
Presenter: Jane Reisman, PhD – Jane Reisman Ph.D.
Presenter: Veronica Olazabal, MA (she/her/hers) – The BHP Foundation
Presenter: Morgan Buras-Finlay, MSW – Raya Cooper Impact Consulting
Presenter: Jared Raynor, n/a – TCC Group