State of measurement in the SGB Sector

Publicada en por Daniela Israel Wilson

In December 2017, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) launched the report “State of Measurement in the small and growing business (SGB)” to understand the measurement practices of the SGB sector.

ANDE surveyed 30 members (out of which 47% of the respondents were Investors and 53% were Capacity Development Providers), and whilst, the network do not consider this sample of 30 organizations to be representative of entire SGB sector, ANDE believes these findings can provide useful insights about current measurement practices as well as identify areas of future development for the sector.

Key Findings:

  • All investors and half of capacity development providers use IRIS.
    IRIS is a catalog of generally accepted performance metrics designed to measure social, environmental, and financial performance of an investment. It is managed by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).

  • Half of the sample collects household data. Capacity Development Providers and Investors were equally likely to report collecting household data, but relatively few Africa-based organizations collect household level data.

  • Capacity development providers tend to focus on business performance outcomes for the SGB while investors more focus on the SGB reach and quality.

  • Nearly all respondents spent less than 5% of annual budget on measurement. Capacity Development Providers tend to spend a greater percentage of their budget.

  • Organizations that collect household-level data spend about the same on measurement as those that do not.

  • Of the six Africa-based organizations who responded, only one had a full-time staff person dedicated to measurement, and none of the organizations surveyed in Latin America had a full-time staff person dedicated to measurement.
  • Over half of ANDE organizations surveyed said they have no full-time staff person dedicated to measurement.
  • Two thirds of the ANDE organizations surveyed receive funds for measurement, and just under half increased their cost in their annual operating budgets.

You can access the report aquí.