Giving Compass' Take:

• The Rockefeller Foundation talks about how measurement in the impact investing world still leaves a lot to be desired and cites certain case studies, such as Toniic and Green Canopy, as models to follow.

• How can we apply the same standards to impact that we do to financial returns? It starts with acquiring high quality data, and the Global Impact Investing Network is a good example of a group pushing in this direction.

• New research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute explores how women and men approach impact investing.

The term impact investing was coined just over ten years ago at The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy. At the time, the Foundation recognized a staggering gap between global development funding needs and the resources that were available. In fact, global philanthropic funds, even when combined with the development or aid budgets of governments, add up to billions of dollars; meanwhile, the cost of solving the world’s most critical problems runs into the trillions. Private capital is urgently needed in order to fill this gap and address pressing global challenges.

Since that time, the Foundation has invested in the growth and professionalization of impact investing – from incubating the platforms and networks to creating standards and impact measurements. It has also aimed to ensure ever-increasing investment of private capital toward solving social and environmental challenges.

While impact investing has grown to an over $100 billion global industry, efforts to measure the impact of these investments have not kept pace. In fact, the scarcity of evidence of the social and environmental returns of these investments has been cited as a significant threat to the continued expansion of the industry. While self-reported metrics and indices were a good start, they alone cannot meet the threshold for robust, measurable outcomes and impact.

Read the full article about improving evidence in impact investing by Veronica Olazabal, Shawna Hoffman and Jane Reisman at The Rockefeller Foundation.