At the Common Approach to Impact Measurement, we are ardent believers in impact measurement. And we want you to be too. However, we invite you to embrace impact measurement with all its limitations in full view. Some people become fanatical about impact measurement, seeing it as a solution to all problems. It is tempting to look for silver-bullet solutions, but ultimately we need diverse solutions that allow for the complexities of society. We want you to see impact measurement for what it is, for what it can be, and for what it can never be or do.
by Kate Ruff
As noted in our Guiding Principles, we recognize the colonial histories present within impact measurement and many contemporary data practices and that they can promote universalist/colonialist worldviews and clientelism rather than self-determination.
We are still learning what anti-colonialist measurement looks like. We also recognize that Indigenous practices of measurement existed pre-contact and we are working on making sure that our standards become anti-colonialist. If you have ideas on that, please be in touch!
For the time being, please reflect on the extent to which impact measurement is right for your organization before you adopt the five essential practices.
More about the limits of impact measurement: