In case you missed it: SI Canada recently hosted an Investment Readiness Case Study webinar featuring Purppl.
It was an informative session exploring how Purppl secured investment to accelerate the impact of social entrepreneurs and their journey to becoming the co-owners of Thrive Impact Fund.
Social Innovation Canada thanks Andrew Greer, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Purppl, Interior Lead at Thrive Impact Fund, for his shoutouts of Common Approach and the Common Foundations! Purppl coaches, consults and collaborates with social entrepreneurs and impact leaders to build regenerative enterprises and initiatives that address the root causes of systemic inequity. Along with Scale Collaborative, Purppl is a co-owner of Thrive Impact Fund, an impact investment fund which invests in and supports impact organizations and social enterprises across British Columbia.
“Common Approach isn’t telling you what to measure; it’s sharing wise practices about how to measure.”
Andrew Greer, Co-Founder, PurpplPurppl and Thrive both use Common Approach’s Common Foundations to “do better impact measurement.”
When asked, “Are your investors looking to hear reports on measurement? Do they want to know about impact?”
The answer: Yes, indeed.
Andrew spoke about how most impact investors that Thrive Impact Fund comes across have some understanding of what impact means but are receptive to learning from their investees. This means investees are often in a position to define what good measurement looks like themselves. We applaud this! At Common Approach, we believe impact measurement works best when the voices of social purpose organizations (i.e., investees) are centered.
Thrive is in a unique position. Working with both investors and investees, they have the opportunity to first learn from their investees what good measurement looks like for them, before working with investors on how they define it. “And that’s a really humble practice!” says Andrew.
About Common Approach, he adds, “Their approach to measurement enables a fund to define outcomes but not the specific indicators that have to be measured, and it allows different investees to choose different indicators that align to different outcomes that we’re trying to achieve.”
The Common Foundations are based on broad global consensus on the essentials of impact measurement practices, highlighting what is common to many different tools and approaches. Learn more about the Common Foundations.
If you’re already doing impact measurement, you may already meet the Common Foundations minimum standard! Take the quick self-assessment and see if you’re already there or identify areas you may want to strengthen.
This post was written by and originally appeared on the Common Approach blog.