Presenting new benchmarks for measuring valueSocial impact measurement/management Focus areas
Overview of activities
As an organization whose goal is to popularize impact investing and impact-oriented philanthropy in Japan, SIIF is engaged in the practice of, and development of knowledge and nurturing of practitioners for, the social impact measurement and management initiatives that constitute the preconditions for such activities.
What is “Social impact measurement/management”?
With global interest in building sustainable societies rising steadily, we have arrived at an era in which even companies are being measured not only by economic activity such as profitability, but by the degree of their contribution to society. In addition, there is also a movement among not-for-profit organizations such as NPOs to clarify the degree of their contribution to resolving social problems. The process of making visible the results and changes in society and the environment caused by the activities and services provided by companies and not-for-profit organizations is referred to as “social impact measurement.” The process of using information related to social results to improve businesses and to make decisions with the intent of enhancing social impacts is referred to as “social impact management.”
Social Impact Measurement & Management
Representative methods for social impact evaluation and management
A logic model is a repreentative tool used in social impact evaluation and management.
The logic model visualizes the theoretical cause-and-effect relationships from business activities to outputs and outcomes.
Glossary
- Social impact:
- social and environmental outcomes resulting from business or activity, including short- and long-term changes.
- Outputs:
- products, services, etc. resulting from the activities of an organization or business
- Outcomes:
- changes, benefits, learning, and other effects resulting from the outputs of an organization or business.
Social Impact Evaluation Process
Using a logic model, we regularly monitor the implementation status. The results are analyzed and used for management decision-making, explanation and reporting to stakeholders, and the PDCA cycle is implemented.
Five dimensions of Impact
| Impact dimensions | Impact questions each dimension seeks to answer |
|---|---|
| What | What tells us what outcome the enterprise is contributing to, whether it is positive or negative, and how important the outcome is to stakeholders. |
| Who | Who tells us which stakeholders are experiencing the outcome and how underserved they are in relation to the outcome. |
| How much | How Much tells us how many stakeholders experienced the outcome, what degree of change they experienced, and how long they experienced the outcome for. |
| Contribution | Contribution tells us whether an enterprise’s and/or investor’s efforts resulted in outcomes that were likely better than what would have occurred otherwise. |
| Risk | Risk tells us the likelihood that impact will be different than expected. |
Source: IMP, “What is impact?” <https://impactmanagementproject.com/impact-management/what-is-impact/>
SIIF collaborates with national and international organizations that promote impact investment and social impact evaluation and management, disseminates the latest trends in Japan and overseas, and works to disseminate knowledge in Japan.
“Why Social Impact Evaluation” is Needed
As an international trend, there is a need for a mechanism to “optimize” the social value of projects and activities, to “verify” this value, and to link this to learning and improvement of one’s own organization and activities, and to accountability to funders and others.
- 1) Shift to outcome-orientation in solving social issues
- Funders, investors, and local governments are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of not only evaluating the “activities” (what has been done), but also optimizing the long-term “outcomes” of the initiatives and utilizing them to improve the projects.
- 2) Share the vision of the society to be pursued
- As stakeholders with diverse perspectives participate in solving social issues, it is necessary to have a common language for recognizing issues and the goals of the society to be pursued.
- 3) Measure diverse values
- As values continue to diversify, there is a growing need for new “measuring rods” to measure social values other than economic values.”
Measurement process for this fund
Constituent elements of logic model following the flow of the project
- Step 1. Set goals and identify beneficiary
- Step 2. Set outcome
- Step 3. Set output, activities and input
- Step 4. Finalize the logic model
出典：SIMI
Case studies
Five strategic themes for accomplishing our mission
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- Three-dimensional investment structures experiencing global growth Impact investing
- “Impact investing” aims to generate simultaneous social and economic impacts alongside financial returns. The objective of SIIF is to create project models in Japan and to expand the market.
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- Presenting new benchmarks for measuring value Social impact measurement/management
- Measurements designed to grasp the qualitative & quantitative social impact generated by projects and activities, and social impact management for the continuation of activities that utilize these measurements to enhance social impacts. We are working on the practice of both in Japan, as well as on knowledge development.
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Paradigm shift in the public sector
PFS (pay-for-success) contracts
Social impact bonds (SIB) - Contributes to building reform mechanisms for more results-oriented public services, such as by using contracts in which payments are proportional to successful social outcomes (PFS), and methods for sourcing funding from investors on such occasions (SIB).
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Paradigm shift in the public sector
PFS (pay-for-success) contracts
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- A new economy supported by the exchange of value other than money Alternatives
- We are working to build mechanisms and project models to express the value in social, natural, cultural, human, and emotional capital in a way that would be difficult using an economic capitalist approach.
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- Intentional funding drives innovation Progressive philanthropy
- We will provide backing for philanthropic activities that generate sustainable social impacts, so as to enable the transformative effects of individual donations and charitable activities by private-sector foundations.