NFP Impact Measurement Framework Launches

A new framework that will allow Not for Profits to formally measure and benchmark the impact of their work in the community has launched in Australia and New Zealand.

Corporate community investment measuring agency, London Benchmarking Group (LBG), created the LBG for Community tool to help organisations refine their strategic vision.

Director of LBG Australia and New Zealand, Simon Robinson, told Pro Bono Australia News that the framework would also provide data-based evidence that Not for Profits need to gain more support from corporate partners.

“It will create a common language for Not for Profits and existing or potential corporate partners,” Robinson said.

“It would help to clarify what the strategic intent of an existing or new corporate partnership might be and, as a result of that, would clarify what impact indicators could then be used to asses what you’ve set out to do has been done.

“It would also enable Not for Profits to make comparisons, not to compete, but to help improve more effective management and implementation of programs and activities, and potentially enhance a level of transparency for organisations who apply it in the same way LBG enables transparency for corporates.”  

Robison said that there was a growing interest for a measurement framework in the Not for Profit sector.

“The journey we’ve been on for the last couple of years to support corporate members in understanding the impact their recourses, cash and time make have brought us in contact with more and more community organisations,” he said.

“It became very apparent that there’s an appetite from Not for Profits to be better equipped to approach corporate partners, to be more able to clarify what they can bring to the corporate partnership in terms of meeting business objectives as well as community need.

“We’ve had a growing number of enquiries from Not for Profits about joining LBG, which has not previously been possible because it’s a membership for corporates. So that lead us to believe there was a need within the sector.”  

First trialled by LBG Spain, Robinson said the Not for Profit framework was based on the company’s corporate measurement tools.

“Not for Profits corral resources from various sources, including corporates and elsewhere, to create inputs to the community and create outputs to generate impact,” he said.

“So it’s really, in effect, a flipping around of the existing framework to consider it from a the angle of the Not for Profit or charitable organisations.”

Currently in its pilot phase, LBG Australia and New Zealand is seeking interest from organisations to participate in a 12 month trial. The framework is then expected to be made more broadly available in early 2017.

While Robinson said LBG was not in a position to offer the service for free, he believed it would be cost-effective for Not for Profits.