Позитивные изменения. Том 1, №1 (2021). Positive changes. Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021) - страница 6

In fact, all market participants, which concerned the topic development, agree on one thing: investments should ‘work’, producing a clear and, if possible, measurable positive impact. It is still the second question – whether it will be possible to return funds invested and even more so to make a profit. The main thing is to achieve a measurable social effect… and be able to evaluate it.

"We decided for ourselves that since we want positive changes, they should affect the quality of people’s lives. And we will rely on feedback, on how people themselves evaluate these changes. Tens of thousands of people participate in our activities. We interview them. And we evaluate our impacts by the way they evaluate the impact of our programs, our projects on their lives," Ekaterina Rybakova says.

Venture investor Ksenia Frank is also confident that quantitative assessment when measuring impact raises many questions and is insufficient by itself. "In the work of the Timchenko Foundation, we do not tie grants only to the achievement of planned metrics (the Foundation introduced a monitoring and evaluation system in 2015). If metrics are too closely tied to funding, they can inadvertently provoke wishful thinking." Ksenia Frank notes that in areas such as social or environmental impact, the purely numerical equivalent of benefits can lead to a shift in focus: "We all know how to count «outputs»: number of classes held, manuals published and people who attended the class. Yet there is something much more difficult to assess and that very few people think about. That is what really has changed in the lives of these people and how stable these changes are."

Jioulnar Asfari agrees with the existence of an internal conflict between the known metrics of performance evaluation and, in fact, the impact evaluation. "The impact is such a semantic aspect, and its ‘birth place’ is the heart, and all the evidence is in the head. Therefore, it is important not to overdo it: the control and measurement system itself should not become a goal in itself. When we talk about impact, it is important to be able to see the effect of all indicators at the strategic level together." At the same time, Jioulnar Asfari notes, today the world market is beginning to form the impact evaluation standards necessary for public companies, there are indicators that can be measured and calculated, and the formation of a relevant evaluation system is, as a whole ring, a matter of time.

Ksenia Frank

Ekaterina Rybakova

Alexey Ryzhkov is sure that the metrics, in any case, are necessary for impact: "It is important that any sphere, any activity is viable in terms of metrology. It is important to develop criteria, it is important for society to coordinate them. It is important to use these criteria." At that Ryzhkov notes, along with universal criteria, there should be industry metrics. But they should be universal, relevant for all countries and activities – first of all.