How can you communicate the results of social impact investing to stakeholders?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start measuring and reporting your social impact, you need to define your goals and the metrics that will track your progress. What are the specific social and environmental issues that you want to address? What are the indicators that will show your impact? How will you collect and analyze the data? How will you align your goals and metrics with the standards and frameworks of your sector, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Impact Management Project, or the Global Reporting Initiative? By clarifying these aspects, you will be able to set realistic and relevant expectations for your stakeholders.

3 Tailor your message to your audience

Different stakeholders may have different interests, needs, and preferences when it comes to receiving and understanding your social impact results. Therefore, you need to tailor your message to your audience and use the appropriate language, tone, format, and channel. For example, investors may want to see how your social impact aligns with their values and objectives, how you manage the risks and opportunities, and how you balance the financial and non-financial returns. Beneficiaries may want to see how your investing improves their lives and communities, how you involve them in the decision-making and feedback processes, and how you respect their rights and dignity. Partners may want to see how your investing supports their missions and goals, how you collaborate and coordinate with them, and how you share the learnings and best practices. Regulators may want to see how your investing complies with the laws and regulations, how you report and disclose your impact, and how you address any negative or unintended consequences.

4 Highlight your achievements and challenges

When communicating your social impact results, you want to highlight your achievements and showcase the positive effects of your investing. However, you also want to be honest and transparent about the challenges and limitations that you face. By acknowledging the difficulties and gaps that you encounter, you can show your credibility and accountability, as well as your willingness to learn and improve. You can also use the challenges as opportunities to solicit feedback, suggestions, and support from your stakeholders, and to engage them in finding solutions and innovations.

5 Provide context and comparison

To make your social impact results more meaningful and understandable, you need to provide context and comparison. Context means explaining the background and rationale of your investing, the problems and needs that you address, the strategies and approaches that you use, and the assumptions and hypotheses that you test. Comparison means benchmarking your results against your own targets and baselines, as well as against the results of other similar or relevant actors, such as your peers, competitors, or industry standards. By providing context and comparison, you can show the significance and value of your impact, as well as the areas where you excel or need to improve.

6 Seek feedback and dialogue

Finally, communicating your social impact results is not a one-way process, but a two-way dialogue. You want to seek feedback and dialogue from your stakeholders, and listen to their opinions, questions, concerns, and suggestions. You also want to respond to their feedback and dialogue, and show how you incorporate their inputs into your actions and decisions. By seeking feedback and dialogue, you can build trust and relationships with your stakeholders, as well as enhance your learning and performance.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?