Measurement in Social
Entrepreneurship
A few things to remember …

You can’t measure everything or track everyone

Some questions are too invasive/difficult to ask

Some metrics/indicators require resources you don’t control

You have to think about collecting primary or secondary data

Financial indicators are easier to measure than social indicators (but they
usually don’t tell us about social impact)

There is a difference between outputs and outcomes
Outcomes are different from Outputs
Outputs - What comes out of your organization/venture
Outcomes –
(What would have happened anyway)
= Impacts
A few things to remember …

You can’t measure everything or track everyone (measure the right things)

Some questions are too invasive/difficult to ask (privacy concerns)

Some metrics/indicators require resources you don’t control (resource constraints)

You have to think about collecting primary or secondary data (quality/quantity of data)


Financial indicators are easier to measure than social indicators (but they usually don’t tell us
about social impact)
There is a difference between outputs and outcomes (Measure outcomes is key)