The second of our Impact Measurement Roundtable for Social Enterprises peer learning community saw participants from a wide range of social enterprises, community initiatives, and creative organisations come together to explore the complex and evolving practice of social impact measurement.

Representing organisations working in areas such as food systems, youth support, social connection, education, creativity, and cultural experiences, attendees shared their experiences of developing impact frameworks, experimenting with evaluation tools, and balancing measurement with the realities of everyday service delivery.

Evaluation vs. Impact: Drawing the Line

One of the early themes of the discussion was the distinction between evaluation and impact. Several participants reflected that:

• Evaluation often focuses on program delivery, how well activities are implemented and whether they meet immediate objectives.
  
• Impact takes a longer view, looking at the sustained changes in people’s lives or communities that result from those activities.

This distinction is not always clear-cut, and the group noted that impact measurement is often iterative and organisation-specific, shaped by values, resources, and community needs.

Storytelling as Social Impact

Data plays a critical role in proving value to funders, partners, and communities, but participants emphasised that numbers alone don’t tell the full story.

Storytelling emerged as a vital tool, conveying the lived experience of change in ways that statistics cannot. Some participants shared their challenges in capturing stories effectively and ensuring they resonate with the right audiences, while others stressed the importance of tailoring communication approaches depending on who the information is for, be it community members, staff, or funders.

Practical Approaches to Measurement

Participants spoke candidly about the practicalities of impact measurement, especially for small or early-stage organisations. Here are some of the key insights shared:

• Simplicity matters: Some found that short check-ins at the beginning and end of programs were more effective than lengthy surveys. In some cases, even post-program reflection was sufficient to capture meaningful shifts.
  
• Staff perspectives: Asking staff to record observed changes proved to be both insightful and motivating, as it helped reinforce their role in contributing to impact.
  
• Community involvement: While involving service users in co-designing frameworks was seen as valuable, it was also acknowledged as resource-intensive and sometimes challenging to balance with limited capacity.
  
• Exit data: Capturing why people leave programs was recognised as important, but sensitive, requiring careful, respectful approaches.

Several attendees shared they had also experimented with creating simple one-page frameworks or adapting indicator sets drawn from existing reports, making impact measurement feel more achievable without overwhelming staff and participants.

Measuring Complex Systems

The challenge of measurement is even greater for organisations working within broad, interconnected systems, such as food or education. Participants described the difficulty of capturing long-term shifts while also being accountable for immediate program outcomes.

Some are beginning to explore new partnerships and external expertise, including interns or consultants, to bring fresh perspectives and capacity to the task. Throughout the discussion, a few shared tensions emerged:

• Balancing rigour with capacity: Particularly for small teams, the time and resources needed for impact measurement often compete with service delivery.
  
• Finding the right indicators: While short-term, quantitative measures are often easier to capture, long-term systemic change is harder to evidence.
  
• Maintaining proportionality: Several attendees reflected on the importance of ensuring measurement frameworks are ‘fit for purpose’: comprehensive enough to demonstrate value without becoming overly burdensome.

Looking Ahead

As with the first roundtable, the session reinforced that there is no single ‘right way’ to approach social impact measurement. Instead, organisations are experimenting, adapting, and learning from each other.

What united the group was a commitment to demonstrating and communicating change, through data, stories, and lived experiences, while staying true to mission and community needs.

This ongoing peer learning community continues to provide a valuable space for leaders to share challenges, swap tools, and develop new approaches together. The conversations will continue to build across the next four roundtables, deepening the collective understanding of how impact can be meaningfully measured and communicated in diverse contexts.

Keen to learn more? Read about our first roundtable and check out our Resource Hub.