Evaluation and Impact Investing: A Review of Methodologies to Assess Social Impact

 Evaluation and Impact Investing: A Review of Methodologies to Assess Social Impact explores the growing challenge within the impact investing sector of prioritizing social impact while often lacking strong approaches for demonstrating and evidencing that impact. The report examines the gap between measuring outputs through metrics, ratings, and certification systems and adopting more rigorous evaluation approaches that can demonstrate whether investments genuinely contribute to meaningful social change. Drawing from the field of development evaluation, the authors propose five key criteria for assessing social impact: impact, differential impact, plausible causality, aggregation, and accountability. The report reviews more than 100 existing social impact assessment tools, frameworks, and methodologies, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and suitability for different investment contexts. It emphasizes that no single methodology is sufficient to fully capture social impact and encourages investors to carefully consider trade-offs between approaches that offer greater standardization, specificity, cost-effectiveness, and depth of learning. The resource provides valuable guidance for organizations, investors, and practitioners seeking to strengthen impact measurement practices and make more informed decisions about demonstrating social value