A comprehensive grasp of impact measurement terminology empowers mission-driven organizations to accurately assess, communicate, and enhance their impact, ultimately driving positive outcomes.
Elevate your understanding of the impact measurement field with our comprehensive Glossary of Impact Measurement terms. Whether you're brand new to the world of impact measurement or just need a quick knowledge brush-up, this resource is your key to deciphering the language of social and environmental change!
Click on any of the topics below to go directly to a specific section.
Data Essentials
| Causation | Indicates that one event is the result of the occurrence of the other event; i.e., there is a causal relationship between the two events. A correlation doesn’t imply causation, but causation always implies correlation. |
| Comma-Separated Values (CSV) | A type of data file (.csv) that uses commas to separate values. Each line of the file is a data record. No formulas or special formatting will be conveyed in a CSV file. Excel spreadsheets and GSheets can be converted from .xsls file to a .csv file when saving. |
| Community data | The data that is related to the information you are sourcing from third-party sources and is associated with zip codes, counties, or other region types. |
| Community indexing | How conditions in specific geographic areas have evolved over certain periods of time. |
| Correlation | A statistical measure that describes the size and direction of a relationship between two or more variables. A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically imply that changes in one variable cause changes in the other. |
| Data Analytics | The science of analyzing raw data in order to make conclusions about that information, uncovering patterns, trends, consistencies, and outliers using mathematics, statistics, and/or computer programming. Learn more about nonprofit data analytics. |
| Data Cleansing | The process of preparing data for analysis by amending or removing incorrect, corrupted, improperly formatted, duplicated, irrelevant, or incomplete data within a dataset. |
| Data Import | The process of moving data from external sources into another application or database. |
| Data Integrity | The overall accuracy, consistency, and trustworthiness of data throughout its lifecycle. |
| Data Manipulation | The process of organizing data to make it easier to read or more structured. |
| Data Type | An attribute that tells what kind of data a value can have and what type of calculation, operations, or visualization can be performed. |
| Data Validation | The process to ensure data collected or input is correct and useful. This is most commonly done by adding a drop-down list to restrict the types of data or values that can be entered into a cell. |
| Descriptive Analytics | The type of data analytics that tells you what happened in the past. |
| Diagnostic Analytics | The type of data analytics that helps you understand why something happened in the past. |
| Disaggregated Data | Data that has been broken down by subgroups (e.g., age, gender, race, geography) rather than reported as a single aggregate figure, revealing disparities and ensuring impact is equitably distributed. |
| Predictive Analytics | The type of data analytics that predicts what is most likely to happen in the future. |
| Prescriptive Analytics | The type of data analytics that recommends actions you can take to affect those outcomes. |
| Qualitative Data | The type of data that cannot be represented by numeric variables. This helps provide context for numerical data and forms the basis of qualitative measurement. |
| Quantitative Data | The value of data in the form of counts or numbers, where each dataset has a unique numerical value associated with it. |
| Unique Identifier | A unique numeric or alphanumeric string associated with a single entity within a given system. (Ex.: Driver’s License number) |
| Access Control | The practice of restricting access to data or systems to authorized users or processes, often via authentication and authorization mechanisms. |
| Cybersecurity | The practice of protecting computer systems, networks, and digital information from various threats, including unauthorized access, data breaches, malware, and other cyberattacks. |
| Data Breach | An incident in which sensitive, confidential, or protected data is accessed, disclosed, or stolen by an unauthorized individual or group. |
| Data Governance | The framework of policies, processes, and responsibilities for managing and protecting data assets within an organization. |
| Data Management | The practice of planning, controlling, and administering data assets throughout their lifecycle, including data collection, storage, and use. |
| Data Privacy | The proper handling of sensitive data, including personal, financial, and intellectual property data, to meet regulatory requirements as well as to protect the confidentiality and immutability of the data. |
| Data Protection | The overall strategy, policies, and measures put in place to safeguard data from unauthorized access, breaches, or other security threats. |
| Data Retention Policy | A set of guidelines and procedures that define how long data should be stored, when it should be deleted, and how it should be disposed of. |
| Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) | A security process in which a user is required to provide multiple different authentication factors (Ex.: password and a one-time code) to access a system or application. |
| Personally Identifiable Information (PII) | Any information that can be used to identify an individual, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers. |
| Protected Health Information (PHI) | Healthcare-related information that is protected under privacy regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to ensure the confidentiality and security of patient data. |
| Date | Calendar Date. |
| Datetime | Calendar Date and Time. |
| List | Multiple values, separated by comma stored within the same field. (Ex.: Checkbox questions) |
| Number | Represents a number or integer, ideally used in calculations. |
| String | Represents text, a sentence, an alphanumeric value, or sometimes a number that is not to be used in calculations. |
| True/False | A binary choice that can represent both a category (yes vs no) and a number (1 vs 0), which can be used in category visualizations like a pie chart or calculations like an average. |
| Bar Chart | A graph that presents columns at varying lengths or heights in proportion to the value they represent. |
| Chart Type | A way to condense large amounts of data into a comprehensible format. Some chart type examples include: bar chart, pie chart, line graph, cluster chart, and simple metric. |
| Cluster Chart | A graph that presents columns at varying lengths or heights in proportion to the value they represent. Cluster charts are capable of displaying more than one Bar for each aggregation field. |
| Data Visualization | A visual representation of data, spanning graphs, charts, and maps. It makes it easier for an audience to see large shifts over time or compare two sets of data. With data visualizations, it is also easier to spot patterns and trends that could inform future optimization opportunities. |
| Line Chart | A graph that displays information as a series of data points called ‘markers’ connected by straight line segments. |
| Outlier | An extremely high or extremely low data point that significantly deviates from the rest of the data. Outliers can impact the accuracy of visualizations and analysis and may need special treatment. |
| Pie Chart | A circular graph that is used to show proportions of a whole (or breakdowns). |
| Simple Metric | The sum, count, average, minimum or maximum of a selected data field. |
| Additionality | The ability to prove that the positive outcome would not have occurred without the investor’s specific investment. |
| Blended Finance | The strategic use of development finance or philanthropic capital to mobilize private commercial capital toward sustainable development outcomes. |
| Concessionary Capital | Investment capital that deliberately accepts a below-market financial return in exchange for achieving specific, high-priority social or environmental impacts. |
| Impact Alpha | The additional financial return or operational outperformance achieved as a direct result of integrating rigorous impact measurement and management strategies into the investment lifecycle. |
| Impact Investing | Investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return (as defined by the Global Impact Investing Network). Learn more about solutions for impact investors. |
| Impact-Linked Carried Interest ("Impact Carry") | A fund management compensation structure where a General Partner’s (GP’s) financial upside is tied directly to the portfolio achieving predefined social or environmental milestones, rather than purely financial hurdles. |
| Social Return on Investment (SROI) | A principles-based method for measuring extra-financial value (i.e., environmental and social value not currently reflected in conventional financial accounts) to understand your social returns on investment. |
| Counterfactual | The baseline scenario, representing what would have occurred in a community or ecosystem in the absence of a specific intervention or investment. |
| Double Materiality | A reporting principle requiring entities to disclose both how sustainability issues affect their financial performance (outside-in) and how their corporate activities impact society and the environment (inside-out). |
| ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) | A strategic framework used by businesses, investors, and institutions to measure a company’s overall sustainability and ethical footprint. |
| Impact Washing | The practice of misrepresenting, exaggerating, or overstating the positive social or environmental impact of an investment portfolio or corporate operation. |
| IRIS+ | The generally accepted system managed by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) used by investors to measure, manage, and optimize social and environmental performance. |
| ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) | An independent standard-setting body established to develop a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures for financial markets. |
| SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) | A blueprint of 17 interconnected global objectives designed to address the world’s most pressing challenges by 2030. The SDGs are a universal call to action for governments, organizations, and society at large to work together to eliminate poverty, protect the global ecosystem, reduce inequality, and foster peace and economic prosperity worldwide. |
| SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) | A European Union regulation requiring asset managers to disclose how they integrate ESG risks, categorizing funds into Article 6, 8, or 9 based on sustainability objectives. |
| Analyze | The process of visualizing and exploring your data to draw actionable conclusions. |
| Baseline Assessment | A measurement of conditions before an intervention begins, establishing a reference point against which you can compare future progress and impact. |
| Better off | An impact dimension that describes how the people you serve are better off due to the services you provided (e.g., 50 students were able to improve their test scores to get into college, which opens new job pathways for them). |
| Business Storytelling | The act of humanizing the operations, activities, and benefits of an organization using well-crafted, engaging, and relevant stories. The goal is to avoid communicating with its target audience in a way that’s overly sales-y, technical, or uninspired. Learn more about nonprofit storytelling. |
| Capacity Building | Investments made in an organization’s infrastructure, systems, and skills to enhance its ability to achieve its mission and sustain long-term impact. Learn more about capacity building. |
| Collaborative Cohorts | Groups of mission-driven organizations or grantees that learn, share data, and work together toward common systemic goals. Learn more about collaborative cohorts. |
| Collect | Review, clean, and centralize data from existing systems and gather new data. |
| Community Contribution | An analytical lens that ensures select objectives and indicators align with your community impact. Direct contribution is an extension of your Better Off KIIs with a community focus. Indirect contribution is often tied to your vision statement. |
| Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | A method for comparing the relative costs and outcomes of two or more interventions to determine which produces the most impact per dollar spent. |
| Deadweight | The portion of an observed outcome that would have occurred regardless of the intervention; used to avoid overclaiming impact. |
| Define | Determine learning questions and key metrics. |
| Dimension | Each objective will have a dimension: Who, What, Quality, Better Off, and Community Contribution. These dimensions help you structure your impact framework and group similar KIIs. By focusing on who you serve, what you deliver, the quality of your delivery, and whether those you serve are better off, you can effectively measure, manage, and communicate your impact. |
| Grant Reporting | The process of communicating progress, outcomes, and financial stewardship to grant funders. Effective grant reporting fosters transparency and mutual learning. |
| Impact | Long-term, positive change in your participants, communities served, or the sector as a result of your organization’s activities. Discover how to measure social impact. |
| Impact Attribution | The process of assigning specific outcomes or changes to a particular intervention or cause. It aims to identify a direct cause-and-effect relationship between a specific action, project, or program and the observed impact. In essence, it seeks to answer the question, “To what extent can we attribute this outcome to our efforts?” Impact attribution often relies on methods like randomized control trials (RCTs) and other rigorous evaluation techniques to isolate the effects of a single intervention from external factors. |
| Impact Contribution | The process of understanding the collective effort of various actors and interventions in achieving an outcome. It recognizes that multiple organizations, initiatives, or circumstances can contribute to the same impact, making it challenging to attribute success to a single source. Impact contribution emphasizes collaboration, synergy, and the interconnectedness of efforts within a broader context. |
| Impact Framework | A structured approach that helps mission-driven organizations define and operationalize their impact, allowing teams to identify, measure, and communicate their social or environmental impact. It is a framework that contains your vision, mission, and values, along with a collection of themes, each with objectives and KIIs that reference both your direct and indirect impact. Read our guide to building an impact framework. |
| Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) | A systematic and structured approach used by organizations to assess, track, and optimize the social, environmental, and economic outcomes or impacts of their activities, projects, programs, or investments. IMM encompasses a set of processes, methodologies, and tools aimed at understanding and improving an organization’s ability to create positive impacts and minimize negative ones. Delve deeper into impact measurement. |
| Impact Reporting | The practice of transparently sharing an organization’s social and environmental performance data with stakeholders through comprehensive impact reporting. |
| Impact Themes | Impact Themes help describe a purpose-driven approach to contributing to social or environmental issues. |
| Indicator | A data point used to indicate progress towards a goal. It is the measure(s) that help you understand whether you are achieving your results. |
| Inputs | Resources committed to your work. |
| Key Impact Indicator (KII) | Metrics used to assess the impact of an organization’s activities on its stakeholders. These indicators, which can be quantitative or qualitative, provide information about the value of an organization’s activities in terms of their contribution to specific social or environmental objectives. |
| Leverage | The process of sharing dashboards and insights to make decisions and tell stories. |
| Logic Model | A visual framework that maps the relationship between a program’s inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes, helping organizations plan, communicate, and evaluate their work systematically. |
| Metric | A measurement of quantitative data (e.g., a data point might be a number, but your metric is total hours). |
| Mission | A statement that supports your vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction. A mission statement should showcase how you plan to tackle and accomplish your current goals and can evolve over time. |
| Needs Assessment | A structured process of identifying and prioritizing gaps between current conditions and desired outcomes within a community or population before designing programs or interventions. |
| Objective | A grouping of KIIs that helps provide structure and organization for your impact framework. Objectives will be tied to a dimension and generally match the language of your mission statement, making them easy for someone learning about your organization to understand. Objectives in the community contribution section will generally match the language of your vision and should be overarching and ambitious. |
| Operational Data | The data that is related to your organization’s program, fundraising or grantmaking, surveys, or other direct work you are taking on in your community. |
| Outcomes | The desired, observable change that results from your organization’s programs or activities. |
| Outputs | Direct results of resources committed to work. |
| Participatory Grantmaking | A funding model that cedes decision-making power about funding priorities and grants to the communities most affected by them. Learn more about participatory grantmaking. |
| Portfolio Data | The data that is related to what you will collect from your grantees or portfolio companies directly. |
| Proxy Indicator | A measurable stand-in used to estimate an outcome that is difficult or impossible to measure directly (e.g., school attendance as a proxy for educational engagement). |
| Quality | An impact dimension that aligns with the “what” dimension, describing how you ensure what you deliver is of high quality and that your team is executing at a high level (e.g., NPS, utilization, retention). |
| Randomized Control Trial (RCT) | A rigorous evaluation method in which participants are randomly assigned to a program group or a control group, allowing organizations to isolate the causal effect of an intervention. |
| Results-Based Accountability (RBA) | A commonly used impact measurement framework that helps nonprofits achieve outcomes for communities and initiatives. It’s also a results-based strategy that helps nonprofits determine how well a program or service is functioning and where they can make improvements to achieve the intended outcomes. |
| Social Impact | The significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge, created by a specific set of activities. Learn more about creating and measuring social impact. |
| Social Needs Index | Created by the urban research firm New Localism Advisors, the Social Needs Index was originally developed to help guide investments to Opportunity Zones and has a wide range of potential uses. |
| Stakeholder Mapping | The process of identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing all individuals or groups who affect or are affected by an organization’s work, ensuring their perspectives are incorporated into the impact strategy. |
| Systems Change | A shift in the underlying policies, practices, power dynamics, or cultural norms that perpetuate a social problem, representing deeper and more durable impact than programmatic outputs alone. |
| Theory of Change (TOC) | A commonly used impact measurement framework that defines a process of planned societal change, from the assumptions that drive its design to the long-term goals it attempts to attain. Impact organizations that have developed a change theory do so to make it easier for them to find logical linkages between actions and outcomes. A Theory of Change framework helps them articulate precisely which premises and assumptions their work tests and what they should evaluate in their assessment strategy. |
| Trust-Based Philanthropy | An approach to grantmaking that addresses inherent power imbalances between funders and nonprofits through core practices like multi-year, unrestricted funding. Explore the principles of trust-based philanthropy. |
| Values | A statement that communicates who you are as an organization and how you operate on a day-to-day basis. Your values should be grounded, easy to follow, and something that every member of your organization wants to embrace and live by. |
| Vision | A statement that communicates the core purpose of your organization and the change you want to make in your community. It should be long-term, constant, and powerful. |
| What | An impact dimension that describes the programs or services you are delivering for the people you serve (e.g., product, services, capital). |
| Who | An impact dimension that describes the people you serve and are helping (e.g., demographics/characteristics, # of recipients). |
