(Illustration by David Plunkert)
The Institute of Philanthropy (IoP) is excited to present this special supplement in partnership with Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR). We are eager to discover how philanthropy can effect real change when it comes to pressing social issues. We also see opportunities for Asian perspectives to contribute to the global debate on how exactly to go about measuring impact, including the insights featured in the pages ahead.
Philanthropy plays a special role in the betterment of society. Its flexibility allows for intervention and experimentation in line with—and often ahead of—government policy and private sector provisions. As governments face sweeping challenges like climate change and aging populations and grapple with competing priorities, philanthropy is becoming more important. This raises the stakes for the sector to demonstrate its impact and the extent to which that impact lasts. (See “In Search of Durable Change” in this supplement.)
We can trace the concept of social impact back to the 19th century, but it did not enter the mainstream until the second half of the 20th. This was due to two converging forces: a desire among philanthropists to make a difference and the notion of corporate social responsibility. Globally, philanthropy’s focus has shifted from measuring the amount of charitable giving to measuring how it creates positive change in society (“A Playbook for Designing Social Impact Measurement”). Companies and investors now embrace a more integrated approach to generating value that encompasses economic value, social impact, and environmental issues.
The advent of an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework was a significant step toward increasing the transparency required to drive change. And yet, the difficulty of quantifying social impact, for example in estimating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, has blurred lines of accountability and undermined the S in ESG reporting. This has damaged the framework’s credibility in the commercial sector (“Fixing the S in ESG”).
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals may represent the most successful effort to align stakeholders with a uniform approach to social impact. But the UN designed them to correspond to its global development agenda. They spell out high-level priorities such as poverty reduction and mortality rates, but they are not easy to translate into accounting for philanthropic dollars. In other words, they don’t provide a standardized yet widely appropriate approach to measuring social impact (“Prioritizing Impact Measurement in the Funding of Social Innovation”).
In Asia, home to some of the most populous nations and fastest-developing economies, we are experiencing rapid growth in philanthropic giving commensurate with the region’s rising wealth. As Asian foundations work to professionalize philanthropic practices, it is imperative to clarify how we approach, interpret, and use social impact measurement (“Putting Evidence to Use”).
It is against this backdrop that the IoP was established in September 2023 with a seed donation of HK$5 billion ($640 million) from The Hong Kong Jockey Club and its Charities Trust. We are an Asia-based “think-fund-do” tank that seeks to bridge regional and global philanthropic thinking for the betterment of societies everywhere.
We aspire to integrate Asian experiences and insights into the global philanthropy ecosystem by bringing together thought leaders, philanthropists, and stakeholders from around the world to exchange best practices and learn from one another. We also aim to cocreate and cofund philanthropic projects. These include collaborations with The Rockefeller Foundation to scale equitable solutions addressing the impacts of climate change and with China’s National Health Commission to build capacity in its health-care sector to strengthen post-pandemic preparedness.
We present this SSIR supplement to consolidate and share knowledge on social impact measurement that can help philanthropy professionals leapfrog barriers, especially in Asia. The articles that follow highlight different perspectives on measuring impact and present approaches that are multifaceted in theory and practice, such as the appropriate use of impact evaluation (“Ten Reasons Not to Measure Impact”) and the importance of stakeholder feedback in impact assessment (“Time for a Three-Legged Measurement Stool”). They also include inspirational and enlightening real-life lessons from organizations such as the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and its evidence-informed innovations (“Beyond Randomized Controlled Trials”); Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and its approach that extends far beyond simple metrics (“Plotting Impact Beyond Simple Metrics”); and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (“Adapt and Innovate”).
Many Asian foundations are just starting out on their impact measurement journeys and working through the challenges of devising a framework to measure social impact in a way that supports their goals. By sharing our lessons, we hope to help peers to fast-track their own discovery process and avoid dead ends.
We also hope that our knowledge-sharing platform can contribute to more meaningful dialogue, actionable collaboration, and co-learning opportunities that will help shape the future of charitable giving in Asia and beyond.
Read more stories by Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.