With an estimated $1.16 Trillion in private impact capital assets under management, impact evaluation & reporting is no longer optional. The broad range of players with a stake in the impact creation game - investors, foundations, policy-makers, corporates, NGOs and social entrepreneurs - increasingly demand transparency and data-driven rigor. According to the GIIN, 100% of impact investors consider impact measurement and management important during screening and due diligence. Impact evaluation is simply a must for any actor in the space. Numbers ground impact claims with clear proof points, and enable the variety of stakeholders to manage impact according to their respective goals.

The space is rife with differing approaches and terms. Most are familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals - 17 high-level goals around which most stakeholders have agreed to align. IRIS+ has also released a series of resources for Impact Evaluation, most notably their Core Metrics sets - a taxonomy of impact metrics for stakeholders to reference the same units of measure. The Impact Management Project has published their five dimensions of impact, driving convergence around what exactly we should all be measuring. And, B Certification, the most widely recognized certification mark - evaluates impact created primarily via a company’s operational footprint.


iX aligns with and builds off of the 3 key global standards that apply to the private markets: the SDGs, the IMP's 5 Dimensions of Impact, and the Iris+ Core Metrics. These are the standards recognized most in the private markets.

If you’re a social entrepreneur or impact fund, these frameworks provide little guidance for impact evaluation in practice. How does a growing company use these to actually generate figures? Metrics can align with the SDGs, reference IRIS+ core metrics and align with the IMP’s 5 dimensions of impact, but most founders don't have primary impact data. They don't know what to measure, or if they do, they're not sure how to make meaning of data they collect.

iX's impact evaluation tools are designed to solve this problem

ImpactableX offers a simple impact evaluation framework that dynamically models impact creation in alignment with the global standards set by the SDGs, IRIS+ and the IMP. We help companies quantify their impact potential, and manage the key levers in their impact operations so they have the tools to manage it efficiently and effectively.

While our framework is consistent, each iX model is tailored to capture the unique mission of its company. Our impact evaluation methods consist of three component parts: definition, attribution, and valuation. We define a company’s core impact metrics - measurable expressions of a company’s value proposition. Then we evaluate the degree to which a product or service can materially impact a social or environmental challenge compared to a baseline, which we inform with third-party research. Lastly, we evaluate the economic implications of this impact, ultimately translating impact creation into economic value. Social impact often creates external value not reflected by a company’s revenue, so it can be very important for when companies make impact investing decisions. We uniquely relate this value to revenue, unlocking critical insights into the efficiency of a business model as a lever for impact. This framework generates four tiers of analytics - impact metrics, outcomes, valuations and multiples - which align with the world’s leading standards.

The ImpactableX process is simple and our trained analysts guide management teams through social impact evaluation at every step. We begin with an intake call where we define key impact metrics and review the business model that drives them. We then kick off the data and research collection process, where we provide custom prompts designed to collect the third-party baseline and valuation research required to generate our summary analytics. Our trained analysts review each submission, generate an initial model and work with management teams to address any gaps, assumptions and/or conflicting data. Each model comes with a validated impact report and iX validation mark, ensuring every data point is one stakeholders can trust.