CASE STUDIES
Impact Services - b-inspired
b-inspired is a neighbourhood-based charity in the underpriviledged area of Braunstone in Leicester. It aims to be the Community Anchor, able to support their neighbourhood and its citizens to reach full potential by harnessing its strengths and responding to its needs. Investing for Good supported b-inspired in their impact management journey, from the design of Theory of Change to a detailed framework to measure results against specific outcomes.
About
b-inspired is a neighbourhood-based charity operating in the underpriviledged area of Braunstone in Leicester, England. The area faces issues such as: social isolation, health and fitness issues, addictions, low revenues and high unemployment rate, low educational attainment, lack of aspirations, low confidence and self-esteem.
b-inspired aims to be the Community Anchor and champion for Braunstone, able to support their neighbourhood and its citizens to reach full potential by harnessing its strengths and responding to its needs.
Some projects aim at tackling social isolation among elderly people.
Challenges
To support its community, b-inspired delivers projects as diverse as sport-relative projects, support to older people, coaching for young people that have been unemployed for 12 months or more, a foodbank, gardening activities, a local magazine, a carnaval, etc.
Such as many charities in the UK, b-inspired faces the challenge of having to report for each project to a different commissioner, each one having specific reporting requirements. For some projects, b-inspired staff spend a lot of time collecting data for reporting purposes, but did not have a framework allowing them to learn from this data internally, and to use it to inform decision-making. Moreover, b-inspired's management had difficulties communicating on their impact at an organisational level.
Our work
Supporting b-inspired in their journey from impact measurement to impact management
In 2017, Investing for Good had already worked with b-inspired at a strategic level, by organising an Theory of Change workshop.
In the context of the Impact Management Programme, funded by the Access Foundation and Power to Change, Investing for Good had the opportunity to continue this work in 2018/19, and to see how to translate the new Theory of Change into proper data collection and analysis.
We supported b-inspired in the following:
- Defining medium term and long term outcomes at organisational level, and at project level;
- Identifying the conditions for success for each programme (short term outcomes) ;
- Designing a framework to track individual progress and measure results against each outcome. This includes defining the indicators, the assessment method, the data collection processes and the questionnaires ;
- Training the team in impact management and ensuring they feel comfortable with the new data collection tools ;
- Support b-inspired in the transition towards an impact management software, ensuring the compatibility of the tool with the new platform;
- Facilitate the adoption of the framework by the staff through trainings;
- Give recommendations on data analysis and reporting, including dashboards and reports design
b-inspired's feedback:
IFG totally shepherded our organisation through the challenging journey of creating a Theory of Change, translating that into a robust framework and tools, to make impact measurement and management a reality for us…we never ceased to be impressed with their insight and knowledge – not to mention their tenacity to get the project completed.
Impact Services - Community Led Initiative
Community Led Initiative is a charity operating in Manchester and Bedford in England. Through peer-to-peer mentoring and group activities, CLI remove barriers to community inclusion for people who are socially excluded, facing complex issues such as drug/alcohol misuse, homelessness, offending, mental ill health. Investing for Good designed for CLI a bespoke impact management framework, integrating new outcomes, indicators, scales, and data collection processes building on an analysis of existing practices.
About
Community Led Initiative is a charity operating in Manchester and Bedford in England, aiming to help people who want to make changes to feel part of a community and achieve their potential. Through peer-to-peer mentoring and group activities, they remove barriers to community inclusion for people who are socially excluded, facing complex issues such as drug/alcohol misuse, homelessness, offending, mental ill health.
Challenges
CLI staff have strong connexions with their beneficiaries, they know the progress that is being made at individual level, but were not equiped with sufficient data to consistenly learn from it and communicate on it at a project level. They already captured impact data, comparing before/after, using tools such as the Outcome Stars. However, the management was not fully satisfied by these tools, as they felt it was difficult to draw conclusions, and to link them to CLI's organisational objectives.
Our work
Developing a bespoke impact management framework to be used consistently by all project managers
This project was delivered in 2018/2019 in the context of the Impact Management Programme, funded by the Access Foundation and Power to Change, aiming at building the capacity of charities and social enterprises to manage their impact.
Investing for Good started with an in-depth analysis of two key projects, that offer peer-to-peer mentoring to: 1. ex-offenders (Manchester), 2. people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction issues (Bedford). We listened to project managers about their activities, expected impact, challenges, existing data collection practices. To better grasp CLI's impact, we organised 4 Focus Group discussions with mentees and mentors.
This initial work allowed us to support CLI in the following:
- Formalising the impact strategy: defining CLI's vision, mission and outcomes (long term and end of programme outcomes)
- Identifying the conditions for success for each programme (short term outcomes);
- Create a beskope measurement framework, using Outcome scales to track progress towards the outcomes, as well as a questionnaire to measure long term impact when people have left the programme;
- Redefine data collection processes;
- Support CLI with the migration to a new data system, ensuring the compatibility of the tool with the new platform;
- Facilitate the adoption of the framework by the staff through trainings;
- Give recommendations on data analysis and reporting, including dashboards and reports design.
CLI's feedback
"It is clear to see how you have pulled all of the work together into a final result which we all feel is really bespoke to CLI, and will effectively allow us to manage and report on our impact. Thank you for doing such a brilliant job with this and for your patience in supporting us to understand the foundations of our impact journey. You have equipped us to be more confident as we move forward and begin to communicate our impact to our stakeholders."
Impact Services - MIND
The Mind is a charity and a network of around 130 local Minds in England and Wales. Investing for Good has been working with Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind (MSM), supporting over 6000 people each year improving their mental health and wellbeing. We supported them in the creation a consistent framework for four projects, that includes defining strategic outcomes, giving recommendations on programme design to enhance long term impact, defining KPIs, reviewing data collection processes and creating questionnaires to collect data.
About
The Mind is a charity and a network of around 130 local Minds in England and Wales. Investing for Good has been working with Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind (MSM), which relies on over 100 paid staff members and 100 volunteers to support over 6000 people each year improving their mental health and wellbeing.
Challenges
Middlesbrough and Stockton Mind delivers an impressive variety of projects to support the community, such as Ageing Better (for people 50+ feeling lonely), Peer support training (with people using their own experiences of mental health problems to help others), Open Minds therapies, Active Minds (that help people with mental health difficulties recover through sport), etc.
Such as many charities in the UK, MSM faces the challenge of having to report for each project to a different commissioner, each one having specific reporting requirements. MSM staff spend a lot of time collecting data for reporting purposes, but did not have a framework allowing them to learn from this data internally, and to take the right decisions. Moreover, MSM's management had difficulties communicating on their impact at an organisational level, due to a lack of relevant and consistent data across projects.
MSM's CEO and management have been very proactive in recent years in constantly trying to improve their impact measurement practices. MSM already had developed a Theory of Change and use a case management software, but MSM welcomed external support and expertise to reach best pratice in impact management.
Our work
Supporting MSM in their journey from impact measurement to impact management
This project was delivered in 2018 in the context of the Impact Management Programme, funded by the Access Foundation and Power to Change, aiming at building the capacity of charities and social enterprises to manage their impact.
Given the diversity of projects and data collection practices, we started from the analysis of 4 projects, in order to design a framework that could work both at project-level and at organisational-level. We listened to project managers about their activities, expected impact, challenges, existing data collection practices. To better grasp The Mind's impact, we organised Focus Group discussions with beneficiaries from the 4 projects.
This work allowed us to support MSM in the following:
- Formalising the impact strategy at a project level, by defining the outcomes (What changes do you want to make? When people leave the programme, where would you like them to be? What about 6 months after people have left the programme?);
- Identifying the conditions for success for each programme ;
- Analysing the way the programme has been designed and give recommendations to ensure that impact is sustained on the long term ;
- Designing a framework to measure progress towards each outcome, including defining the indicators, the assessment method, the data collection processes and the questionnaires ;
- Training the team in impact management and ensuring they feel comfortable with the new data collection tools ;
- Giving recommendations on how to move towards a digital data collection and analysis.
Although MSM is part of a nation-wide framework, local Minds have autonomy on the way they measure and report on their impact. The Research Team at national Mind is now working on developing some tools that would help local Minds in this process. Investing for Good has shared insights with national Mind, and we hope that this work will help other local Minds!
Impact Reports - Thera
Investing for Good uses its Good Analyst methodology as the basis to provide its impact rating and reports.
About
Thera is a charitable group of companies which support people with a learning disability with a diverse range of needs in the UK.
Challenges
Impact reports are often required by social investors and external stakeholders, but charities can face challenges such as:
Communicating on their impact at an organisational level, when the level and quality of data available varies a lot across projects;
Selecting quality impact data
Convincing investors of the strengths of their model, and the reliability of the data presented
Making sure that they have a right proportion of quantitative and qualitative data, case studies, pictures, etc.
Presenting a nicely designed report.
Getting the support of an external organisation, with expertise in impact measurement and social investment, can be very helpful in this process.
Our work
For the second consecutive year, Investing for Good has produced Thera’s social impact report in 2018.
In addition to supporting Thera in the definition of the reports’ structure, content and design, Investing for Good analysed Thera’s data and gave a “Social Impact and Financial Confidence score”. Our scoring system is based on the Good Analyst methodology, that has undergone many years of application and refinement and assesses the quality of the impact and financial proposition.
These Social Impact Reports are publicly available and many are required by social investors.
Report 2017-2018 available soon
Big Society Capital Outcomes Matrix
Investing for Good led the development of the Big Society Capital Outcomes Matrix to help develop consistent and coherent approaches among social investors.
Investing for Good led the development of the Big Society Capital Outcomes Matrix to help develop consistent and coherent approaches among social investors. Working with the group of foundations and intermediaries convened by Big Society Capital, including Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Big Issue Invest, NESTA, Bridges Ventures, Social Investment Business, Deutsche Bank, Triodos Bank, and CAF Venturesome, we developed best practice guidelines and a practical investor toolkit, including a high-level taxonomy of impact analysis across the social investment marketplace.
It was critical that we reflected the experiences of social purpose organisations, as well as our peers, in order to create a tool that had broad application and captured a comprehensive set of outcomes and measures. The result is more common ground regarding social impact assessment in the social sector.
Impact Services - International Work
Investing for Good has a growing international presence, recently taking on a number of advisory mandates across Africa and Asia.
Investing for Good has a growing international presence, having taking on a number of advisory mandates across Africa and Asia. These have provided Investing for Good with the opportunity to apply a number of innovative concepts and structures developed in the UK social investment market in a new context. They also offer a much needed source of funds for high social or environmental overseas impact projects and the opportunity for investors to align themselves to a range of geographic project themes.
Highlights include:
- Advising an impact-focused business accelerator Growth Mosaic in Ghana, under a British Council-led programme, on potential structures for an investment vehicle to fund local social enterprises by providing seed capital and business acceleration services
- Co-developing with a dedicated finance provider impact-screened trade finance notes focused on the provision of short term financing to SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Producing an impact framework and monitoring plan in connection with an initial equity funding round for an innovative, India based, affordable accommodation provider
- Supporting a leading NGO in Kenya to identify suitable investment models and assessment framework on investment readiness, assessing the differing capital requirement needs of social enterprise clients, engaging with investors and running repayable finance workshops.
Impact Services - Centrica Ignite
We helped Centrica’s profit with purpose arm Ignite to develop an effective screening tool for the fund’s impact due diligence process, advising the organisation on how to incorporate impact into decision making processes as well as training investees on the concept of impact measurement.
In 2013, Centrica launched an initiative, the Big Energy Idea, to support energy entrepreneurs that have a social impact on local communities – the UK’s first impact investment fund with a focus on energy. We helped Centrica’s ‘profit with purpose’ subsidiary Ignite to develop an effective screening tool for the fund’s impact due diligence process, advising the organisation on how to incorporate impact into decision making processes as well as training investees on the concept of impact measurement.
With a pragmatic and robust set of tools, Ignite is now able to evaluate the fund’s capital deployment to generate blended and sustainable returns, as well as to effectively communicate the social impact of the fund to the investment committee and other internal stakeholders. Centrica’s model was highly innovative and it was critical that we design the appropriate tools that had the rigour and objectivity to capture all aspects of the impact of the fund.