What is impact data?

In short:

Impact data is information, qualitative or quantitative, that goes beyond outputs to articulate or illustrate the theory of change for a social impact organization.

For a social impact organization, impact data does not only describe outputs, but presents qualitative and/or quantitative information that clearly illustrates a Theory of Change (TOC). There is a key distinction between traditional output metrics and impact data.

Let’s consider an example from a homebuilding organization. In this case, an output metric is the number of homes built, or the number of people living in these new homes. Impact data, rather, will measure the decrease in infectious disease and poverty levels as a result of these new homes. Impact data reaches a greater depth in examining the intervention’s (in this case, homebuilding) value over time by constantly relating data back to the organizations TOC and using longitudinal data points.