impactworks@sociocapital.org | (+234) 807 880 0180

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Evidence-Driven Insights For Sustained Impact

ImpactWorks helps organizations generate, measure and manage the right evidence and insights to enable sound decision-making targeted at delivering measurable blended value and driving scalable change.

Two important trends are shaping the future of development in Africa.

First, there is an expansion of innovative and blended capital with an appetite for measurement of both social and economic impact.
Second, public, private, and social sector organizations are increasingly attuned to deploying evidence and real-time insights to make their programs and investments more effective, adaptive, and strategically responsive to changing development landscapes and investment priorities.

Social Impact is the new buzzword in business and development. But how can organisations really measure, monitor, and manage them?

While organizations are excited by how they can use data to show how they achieve their bottom line (social, financial, or environmental), there is more they can do with evidence to solve problems, spur innovation and deepen their value.
This is where the Sociocapital ImpactWorks come in.

ABOUT US

ImpactWorks is a social impact monitoring, measurement and learning practice supporting organizations to apply data, evidence, and insights to enable sound decision-making and deliver measurable blended value.

We apply our deep understanding of business systems, social impact performance modelling, metrics and analytics to transform impact data into market intelligence and actionable insights.

We help measure, monitor, model and manage the process, results and outcome of social development initiatives and investments to inform strategic decision making & thought leadership, sustain and scale high-impact models, and improve performance, visibility, and learning.

Core Service Areas:

– Landscape Analysis & Impact Modeling
– Market, Implementation & Outcomes Research
– Monitoring, Evaluation & Adaptive Learning
– Impact Reporting and Communication

An agile, adaptable, and context-specific impact measurement and management (IMM) approach is key to effective investment, business, and programmatic decision-making.

Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) is often seen as an intimidating field that is complex, lengthy, and costly and the exclusive domain of academia and donor reporting requirements.

This is based on the following assumptions:

Impact measurement is inherently multi-dimensional and complex.

While there seems to be a growing appreciation of Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) within the social impact landscape, the capacity for designing and building a culture of IMM is grossly lacking.

While conventional business metrics are relevant to understanding market dynamics and growth opportunities, they are insufficient to measure social impact.

What you Gain by Partnering with ImpactWorksTM

Understanding how YOUR ORGANISATION create long-term value by using evidence to unpack the interconnectedness of broader economic, social, and environmental issues.

01

Understand the impact of your initiatives and business processes on people and society.

Benefit from a credible, comparable, and adaptable approach to social impact measurement that incorporates social performance alongside financial and environmental performance. This is essential to helping your organization truly understand the drivers of sustainable growth and estimate how those drivers translate to impact.

02

Receive the clarity, insights, and tools required to authenticate your contributions toward the SDGs and Social Good

Achieving the SDGs is critical to creating long-term value for the internal (organizations) and external stakeholders (people and the planet). Position your organization to recognize how you contribute positively to sustainable development.

03

Unpack the value they create for society and for their business beyond financial returns.

Incorporating impact reporting standards within your program design and implementation plans elevates the social and economic development impact of investment and projects. Build the confidence of your investors, donors, and stakeholders that you can deliver outsized impact at scale.

OUR SOLUTION

We partner with funders (philanthropies and investors), implementers and businesses to apply sustainability intelligence, impact reporting standards and performance parameters to monitor, measure and manage social, environmental, and financial value.
We do this by:

IMM Systems Strengthening

Working with organizations who desire to develop and deploy tailor-made IMM systems so they can effectively understand and increase the impact of their products, programs, and practices.

We do so by embedding impact management and standards into impact models and balanced thought leadership adapted for the local context, macroeconomic factors, and sector-specific priorities.

Formative Research

Helping to bring focus to the existing tools, habits, and relationships we can support design, implementation and scale-up.

We do so by making qualitative data tangible; creating themes and insights based on patterns of behaviour, then making them generative with frameworks and relevant hypotheses; and sharing findings through engaging and inspirational visuals that help teams act.

Management and Advisory

Providing end-to-end IMM management and advisory services informed by evidence and balanced thought leadership adapted for the local context, macroeconomic factors, and sector-specific priorities.

Impact Assessment and Reporting

Helping organizations communicate with a common impact performance language thereby alleviates the reporting burden on both investors/donors and investee/grantee organizations, and in turn, enhances data interoperability.

We provide continuous, on-the-ground, on-demand, cross-sectoral and systematic support to funders and implementing partners (IPs) through performance monitoring, impact and performance evaluations, project and activity level monitoring, evaluation and learning plans.

Impact Benchmarking

Facilitating organizational adaptation and alignment of their specific blended value parameters with relevant metrics and standards so they can better describe and understand the impact, assess success, and clearly communicate impact performance with other impact investing stakeholders.

Some of these standards include Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Impact Standards, Social Investment cases, and Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS), amongst others.

Organizational Development & Learning

Delivering tailormade capacity strengthening, organizational learning, special studies and knowledge management support.

We build the capacity of your in-house staff to deploy relevant tools to monitor, manage and measure progress and outcome.

OUR APPROACH

The principles and practice of impact management from the two far-reaching spectrums of business and development are similar in principle but markedly different in practice.

We implement a robust impact measurement framework to assess progress, identify levers of change, as well as understand the economic and social return on social interventions and mission-focused investment. We ensure that these impact considerations are intentionally integrated into the enterprise development and investment lifecycle.

We do so at 3 levels:

ensuring that development actions and investments lead to improved business and social outcomes.
using results to inform and supplant assumptions as policies and initiatives are prioritized, designed, and deployed.
stimulating learning for future program design and implementation.

CASE STUDIES

ImpactWorks is our social impact monitoring, measurement and learning practice supporting organizations to apply data, evidence, and insights to enable sound decision-making and deliver measurable blended value. We use data to understand the dynamics of systems-level change and respond with the most impactful locally driven, scalable solutions that can self-sustain through high-quality systems and innovative financing. We help measure, monitor, model and manage the process, results and outcome of social development initiatives and investments to inform strategic decision-making & thought leadership, sustain and scale high-impact models, and improve performance, visibility, and learning.

Our Experience

We have conducted a series of formative, implementation research and outcome evaluation efforts towards the design and delivery of social and market-based interventions. We have coordinated several innovative access and financing, supply chain systems strengthening projects across various sectors including global health, population & nutrition (including Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) and malaria services), economic growth & livelihood, and integrated gender programs, creative economy and entrepreneurship. Below are some project summaries showcasing our experience in 3 key sectors.

Health Systems Strengthening

Sociocapital conducted the baseline assessment of the Saving Mothers Giving Life (SMGL 2.0) Project implemented by Pathfinder International in Nigeria with support from MSD (Merck) for Mothers to generate the qualitative insights needed to contribute to improve access to and quality of maternal and new-born care and institutional delivery services; and strengthen collaboration and partnership between government and the private health sector.

Pathfinder International, Antenatal Care Project Baseline Assessment

Pathfinder International, Saving Mothers Giving Life (SMGL 2.0) Project Baseline Assessment

Sociocapital supported the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to conduct the national Hormonal Intrauterine System (H-IUS) market landscaping & analysis, and development of product introduction strategy in Nigeria. The process which was built on market insights built on realistic investment case incorporated strong behavior economics, social behavior change (SBC) theories and design thinking methodologies.

Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), national Hormonal Intrauterine System (H-IUS) Market Landscaping & Analysis

Supported the End-line assessment of the Global Fund-project for strengthening the National Supply Chain for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Programme in Sudan, Mozambique, Tanzania.

Global Fund-project End-line Assessment

Conducted the Endline Performance Review of the Institutional Capacity Building and Organizational Development interventions implemented by Management Strategies for Africa under the USAID-funded Targeted States High Impact project (TSHIP) in Bauch & Sokoto State.

Targeted States High Impact project (TSHIP) Endline Performance Review

Nutrition, Agriculture & Food Systems

Sociocapital supported the development of a communication strategy through human-centred and social behaviour change research in support of the Fleming Fund Country Grant technical assistance to the Government of Nigeria implemented by DAI International to build laboratory capacity and strengthen surveillance systems for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and Antimicrobial Use (AMU) across the human, animal, and environmental health sectors.

DAI International, Fleming Fund Country Grant Social Behaviour Change Research

Sociocapital conducted the Mid-Term Review of the USAID-funded ‘Water for Agriculture’ project interventions implemented by Catholic Relief Services in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states, Nigeria. The project is targeted at sustainably increasing water availability and management towards increasing agricultural productivity amongst 4,000 farmers and 50,000 herders in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states in North-Eastern Nigeria.

Catholic Relief Services, USAID-funded ‘Water for Agriculture’ Project Mid-Term Review

Sociocapital led the End line evaluation of the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO)-funded Community Management of Acute Malnutrition program (Phase 5) implemented in Nigeria by Save the Children to ascertain the impact, effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability of the 5-year program on improving child nutrition.

Save the Children, Community Management of Acute Malnutrition Program End Line Evaluation

Conducted the Process Analysis of the Maternal and New-born and Child Health (MNCH) interventions in Katsina States, Nigeria to ascertain the process, outcomes, effectiveness, and impact of the MNCH Week in achieving increased coverage of Vitamin A supplementation, routine immunization for children under 5, and other MNH services in Nigeria.

Maternal and New-born and Child Health (MNCH) Intervention Process Analysis

Economic Growth, Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Livelihood

Sociocapital supported the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)/World Food Program to develop the Global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network global convergence toolkit, technical assistance strategy and revised governance framework to equip and support the Network to collaboratively adopt safe and healthy nutrition business practices through support to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), private sector, as well as humanitarian and development actors.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)/World Food Program

Sociocapital supported the Global Prosperity Fund’s ‘Skills for Prosperity’ (S4P) Nigeria Project implemented by Palladium International with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) to conduct a baseline assessment, country landscape and stakeholder satisfaction survey to identify and address factors that shape the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and the business environment; understand stakeholder’s satisfaction with TVET programmes, apprenticeships, and traineeships, identifying gaps and areas of improvement; and uncover specific areas related to safeguarding, gender equality and social inclusion capacity.

Palladium International, Global Prosperity Fund’s ‘Skills for Prosperity’ (S4P) Nigeria Project Baseline Assessment, Country Landscape and Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey

As part of a global consortium led by the Henley Business School at the University of Reading, UK, Sociocapital in partnership with and AfriNolly facilitated human centred design for the development of the flagship social impact entrepreneurship program of the British Council in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt & South Africa. The formative research effort led by Sociocapital elicited the capacity needs, contextual pedagogy and created archetypes representative of the various audiences across Africa using the 4 focal countries as references. Sociocapital created a robust design framework with over 15 archetypes created across 6 industry dimensions. Sociocapital also co-created 4 out of the 7 modules of the impact entrepreneurship programs both as content creator and faculty.

Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK Formative Research

ImpactWorks by Sociocapital
impactworks@sociocapital.org | partner@sociocapital.org | (+234) 807 880 0180 | 708 681 0000