How To Become An Impact-First Organization!

We hear ideas for change and development every day. As a leader, we’re sure you do too. Rarely do these suggestions and ideas come from an impact-first mindset. From stakeholders to your friends and family, everyone has an opinion on how to run your organization. These opinions may be about what direction you should go in, the communities you should serve, or the way you should articulate and market your mission. We love these ideas – they reflect the passion and commitment which you inspire in stakeholders. However, at Social Impact Solutions, we value evidence-based impact above all else. That evidence is what drives the success of an impact-first team like yours.

Recommendations are easy to come by. Recommendations based on the irrefutable evidence of hard data, however, can be hard to find. Social Impact Solutions is here to help. Our team is dedicated to measuring and marketing your impact through proven marketing frameworks and evidence-based research. Read on to learn how we make factual data a central component in all that we do.

“Innovation is the path. Impact is the destination.”

-Ann Mei Change, CEO of Guidestar

Firstly, evidence-based research is central to the process of developing a needs assessment for your organization.  This process begins with comprehensive qualitative and quantitative surveying of your constituency. Our team will develop questions custom-tailored for your organization’s specific mission. These will include qualitative examinations of the human side of your organization (“What is the best way this organization currently supports you?”), and quantitative scales designed to identify trends in your constituent data on a macro-scale (“On a scale of 1-10, how is the organization currently delivering on your expectations?”).

Quality needs assessments can vary in size and scope. The challenge is to find what methods and questions will illicit the most value for your leadership team to make informed decisions and make definable improvements. 

Secondly, as a certified partner of Sopact, a leading impact measurement group, all of our researchers are trained in cutting-edge impact measurement strategies and techniques. When measuring your impact for our social and economic impact reports, our team conducts rigorous examinations of primary and secondary data from your organization to identify which impact metrics matter most to your constituents and how exactly you are performing against these benchmarks. This performance data becomes the basis for your impact report, an accessible PDF that shows your stakeholders why they should be proud to be a part of your community.

Finally, it is time to start creating effective change. From these surveying practices and an examination of your organization in the context of your industry as a whole, we can examine what the greatest needs of your constituents are, how you’re delivering on them, and what your constituents’ demographic makeup is. Through this process, Social Impact Solutions ensures that any recommendations we make are grounded in a deep understanding of your mission and community.

To Become An Impact-First Team, You Must Initiate The Following:

• Conduct a Needs Assessment for your business/organization
• Research and select which validated tools and metrics will help will deliver on the now realized needs
• Implement new programs, policies, and procedures to meet the needs of your target audience

Using impact metrics and evidence is critical for success. Through impact data, you can cut through the fluff and buzzwords of the (unsolicited) advice which surrounds you and be confident in the decisions you are making. With impact data, you know how to act on the ideas you have and exactly how they will contribute to your mission overall. With impact data, you can flourish.

Schedule a Consultation today to turn your ideas into impact-first insights.