There is no common language to date on social impact measurement. The field is rapidly evolving, with national and international debates taking place inside academia, institutions and communities of practice. Addressing this complex issue thus first requires understanding the definitions of social impact.
The idea of social impact is strictly related to the social value produced by organisations (Bassi, 2013). The term ‘social impact’ — which may overlap with ‘social value creation’ (Emerson et al. 2000; Gentile, 2000) and ‘social return’ (Clark et al., 2004) — has many definitions and may also be linked governance criteria exist specifically to ensure that social enterprises achieve their mission of producing positive social impact. Regardless of whether they meet these criteria or not, social enterprises that seek funding are expected to measure their social impact. Traditional for-profit businesses should be expected to do so as well. This could ensure that investment funds finance traditional businesses or social enterprises with significant social impact.
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