Social Impact Measurement and Management in Impact Investing: The Jungle We Must Steer Through

The impact investing market has dramatically expanded, but not without any real problems: the risk of contamination by the traditional form of investments, the proliferation of non-standardised and integrated standards and tools, and confusion about how to manage the social impact by factoring a multitude of actors are all matters that need to be considered; Several challenges remain to be solved, including the confusion about which factors should be weighed when measuring social impact, understanding the risks associated with those factors during the decision-making process, difficulties in generating and collecting high-quality social impact data, lack of alignment among stakeholders on the timeline for measuring and managing social impact, social impact not being prioritised by many organisations, and the high risk of “impact washing”; Hard and soft law is needed to improve the measurement and management of social impact when moving beyond the “one-size-fits-all” approach, and thus considering the multitude of stakeholders when designing and assessing impact initiatives.