Investment leaders at the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) just released their most recent research on impact measurement and management (IMM). The 68-page second edition of their IMM survey explores impact investors’ “objectives, strategies and processes” for improving impact results.
Because impact investors want to make positive social and environment impacts in addition to financial returns, they have specific concerns about how investment projects are designed and how impact is obtained and then measured through data.
In earlier years of impact investing, we at DGI worked to build consensus that such a thing was possible and worth pursuing. Because we did, the #impinv market has grown quite quickly, and now investors rightly require meaningful measurement of the improvements made, and not just a financial accounting.
Whether you’re investing in clean drinking water, clean energy access, low-income housing, sustainable trade financing or any of the other worthy sectors, you’ll want to develop the expertise to evaluate impact reports. It’s a new and growing area, building in sophistication each year. The new GIIN report is an excellent place to start.