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It has never been more important to identify, amplify and communicate the positive impact organizations are making in the world. Yet bosses, shareholders, colleagues, boards, funders, new employees and stakeholders are all too often left without a good answer to a seemingly simple question: ‘Has the significant investment we have made into “making a difference” actually made any difference whatsoever?’
Whether you’re a business, charity, local authority, or government department leader, discover what it really takes for an organization to make an impact in the world, and most importantly how you can truly understand the difference you are making.
Matt Stevenson-Dodd is founder and chief executive of Trust Impact (www.trustimpact.com). With a 30+ year career as Chief Executive of some of the UK’s most socially impactful and innovative organizations, Matt is trusted by the CEOs, boards, chairs and senior leaders of hundreds of organizations around the world to help find pragmatic solutions to understanding, measuring and maximizing their social impact.
Matt Stevenson-Dodd is founder and chief executive of Trust Impact (www.trustimpact.com), a consultancy helping organizations build trust through innovative impact measurement and reporting.
With a 30+ year career as Chief Executive of some of the UK’s most socially impactful and innovative organizations, Matt is trusted by the CEOs, boards, chairs and senior leaders of hundreds of organizations around the world to help find pragmatic solutions to understanding, measuring and maximizing their social impact. He works across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, helping organizations answer one simple question: ‘Do we actually make any difference to the world we are operating in?’
With clients including Duke of Edinburgh International, Refugee Council, RSPCA, Cambridge City Council, and Shell International, Trust Impact has disrupted traditional and complicated impact measurement with a much simpler and more strategic offer.
In 2020 Matt was made a Member of the Venerable Order of Saint John and was recently awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the global Association of MBA’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award. All of this is underpinned by a strong academic record which includes an MBA with Distinction and a scholarship to Harvard.
Matt has been a guest on numerous social impact and leadership podcasts around the world, written articles for national newspapers including The Guardian as well as relevant sector press.
Foreword - Professor Kieron Boyle, Marshall Institute, LSE
Introduction
Part 1 - Getting The Basics Right
Chapter 1 - Do versus Difference?
Chapter 2 - Failure v Success
Chapter 3 - The Three Eras of Impact Measurement
Chapter 4 - Social Impact, Social Value and Social Return On Investment?
Chapter 5 - Why Doesn't It Work?
Part 2 - Understand
Chapter 6 - Keeping Things Simple
Chapter 7 - Aligning on Your Core Purpose
Chapter 8 - Need, Vision and Purpose: The Impact Fundamentals
Chapter 9 - Theory of Change
Part 3 - Measure
Chapter 10 - Measure What Matters (Not Everything)
Chapter 11 - Changing the Way We Measure
Chapter 12 - More Than Questionnaires!
Chapter 13 - Measuring the Hard to Measure
Part 4 - Maximize
Chapter 14 - Why Maximize?
Chapter 15 - The Power of Live Data and Data Storytelling
Chapter 16 - Trust and Transparency
Part 5: Individual Difference by Sector
Chapter 17 - Corporations and Business
Chapter 18 - Public Sector & Government
Chapter 19 - Charities and Social Enterprise
Chapter 20 - Social Impact Investing
Chapter 21 - Health
Chapter 22 - Funders
Chapter 23 - Sport
What’s next? - The Future of Making a Difference
Introduction 8
Part One - Getting the Basics Right 13
Chapter 1 - 'Do' Or 'Difference'? 15 Chapter 2 - Failure versus Success 21 Chapter 3 - Three Eras of Impact Measurement 29 Chapter 4 - Why Doesn't Impact Measurement Work? 35 Reflections and Next Steps 40
Part Two - Understand 41
Chapter 5 - Keeping Things Simple 42 Chapter 6 - Aligning On Your Core Purpose 49 Chapter 7 - The Impact Fundamentals 55 Chapter 8 - Theory of Change 64 Reflections and Next Steps 73
Part Three - Measure 74
Chapter 9 - Measuring What Matters (Not Everything) 75 Chapter 10 - Social Return On Investment, Social Value and Social Impact 84 Chapter 11 - Changing The Way We Measure 88 Chapter 12 - More Than Questionnaires 92 Chapter 13 - Measuring The Hard to Measure 98 Reflections and Next Steps 104
Part Four - Maximise 105
Chapter 14 - Why Maximise? 107 Chapter 15 - The Power of Live Data & Data Storytelling 110 Chapter 16 - Trust and Transparency 123 Reflections and Next Steps 127
Part Five - Individual Differences by Sector 128
Chapter 17 - Corporations and Business 129 Reflections and Next Steps 134 Chapter 18 - Public Sector and Government 135 Reflections and Next Steps 141 Chapter 19 - Charities and Social Enterprise 142 Reflections and Next Steps 147 Chapter 20 - Social Impact Investing 148 Reflections and Next Steps 153 Chapter 21 – Funders 154 Reflections and Next Steps 159 Chapter 22 – Sport 160 Reflections and Next Steps 164
Conclusion 165
Chapter 23 - The Future of Making a Difference 165
What Can I Do Next? 169
About The Author 171