The secure dominations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and governments, non-profits are increasingly expected to show the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. Donors demand greater transparency and accountability and wish to see social return on their investments in order to ensure that their funds are creating maximum impact.

This greater focus on ensuring a social return has triggered innovation in the way donor grants are structured. Social impact bonds, for example, enable donors to have greater control over results, and in some forms can even provide a financial return while also contributing a social change.

To be as effective as possible in meeting donor’s needs , a social-sector organization must answer a number of critical questions:

• How should we measure and tract the social impact generated by our interventions on an ongoing basis?
• How can we assess different types of potential interventions to determine which would have the greatest impact?
• How do we make the difficult decisions of choosing which needs to serve, so that our efforts remain as focused as possible?
• How can we convince donors that our efforts are indeed significantly improving people’s lives and reaching the largest numbers of beneficiaries?
• How can operations on the ground make the most effective use of our limited resources?
• How can we encourage and support social investments the use of private finances to deliver social good beneficiaries?