IMP / Impact Management Norms
Analyze impact deeply across five dimensions (What, Who, How Much, Contribution, Risk).
Overview
The IMP (Impact Management Project) is a shared framework for companies, investors, and governments to measure and manage social and environmental impact in a consistent way. Developed from 2016 to 2021 with more than 2,000 participating organizations, it is now widely adopted internationally as the “Impact Management Norms.” It analyzes impact across five dimensions: What (what changes), Who (who experiences the change), How Much (how much change), Contribution (your contribution), and Risk (uncertainty).
When to use it
- When you want to evaluate the “depth” of impact from multiple angles
- When explaining the quality of impact to investors and stakeholders
- When considering your “contribution” (would the same have happened without you)
- As a framework for interpreting and evaluating metrics measured with IRIS+
How to use it
Organize which outcome changes, whether it is a material issue, and whether it is positive or negative.
Analyze who experiences the change and how underserved they are.
Measure how many are affected (scale), how much they change (depth), and for how long (duration).
Ask whether the same change would have happened without you (counterfactual) and assess the distinctiveness of your contribution.
Identify the risk that impact does not materialize as planned, and design how to monitor it.
◎ Pros
- ·Evaluates not just the quantity of impact but its “quality” (who benefited and how much)
- ·Designed to integrate with IRIS+, B Impact Assessment, and other frameworks
- ·Widely adopted internationally as an evaluation standard used by impact investors
△ Cautions
- ·Collecting data on all five dimensions is demanding, raising the bar for initial adoption
- ·Assessing “Contribution” in particular requires advanced analysis
- ·Can be over-specified for SMEs and startups
