ABSTRACT
Measurement can be an effective tool to communicate which areas of performance in the organization are considered most important. Investors are ready to develop investors’ own system for measuring impacts. Starting with a strong foundation helps ensure that investors’ measurement system produces valid and useful information. Measurement can be used to evaluate the links between elements in the logic chain and hypothesized relationships about how investments lead to outcomes and impacts. When investors’ work has direct or indirect beneficiaries, it is essential to bring them in to make sure their interests are aligned with investors’ goals and to explore risks associated with the planned changes. The logic through which investors’ investment creates an impact should define the inputs investors invest, the actions investors pursue, and the outputs investors provide to investors’ beneficiaries. Once investors have inventoried investors’ full range of impacts, investors can begin to decide which are of most significance.
