"The report examines the impact measurement approaches of 13 GIIN members (including development finance institutions (DFIs), fund managers, banks, and foundations) who invest directly into healthcare delivery companies- detailing the metrics, methodologies, and assumptions that are commonly used by these investors, as well as the challenges and limitations they face.

The report aims to bring greater transparency to the diversity and limitations of current impact measurement approaches, facilitate shared learning, and provide a tangible resource for those who are new to the sector or seeking to improve practice."

"This report summarizes the results of a survey that the Fate Foundation in partnership with Budgit Nigeria designed. It was disseminated to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with the goal of engaging relevant stakeholders within the entrepreneurship ecosystem to solutions and interventions to support Nigerian MSMEs during and post COVID-19. The survey was targeted at micro, small and medium businesses across the 36 states in Nigeria including the FCT. This report also provides in-depth recommendations for government, enterprise support organizations, private and development sector stakeholders on policy and program design as well as implementation approaches."

"This study evaluates the impact of business-development-support programs (credit, training, and a combination of both) on the performance of micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) in Ethiopia. Using 2015 Ethiopian urban survey data and employing endogenous-switching regressions for multiple treatments, we document a positive and significant effect of credit, training, and a combination of training and credit on MSEs. Our results highlight the heterogeneity in treatment effects between women- and men-owned MSEs: women-owned businesses do not benefit from access to treatments. Our results suggest that improving the performance of MSEs requires fine-tuned interventions that meet the specific needs of men and women who own small businesses rather than one-size-fits-all programs."

"I present a model of financing social enterprises to delineate the role of impact investors relative to "pure" philanthropists. I characterize the optimal scale and structure of a social enterprise when financed by grants and when financed by investments. The analysis yields two heuristics to guide impact investors. First, investments allow a financier to discipline inefficient spending. Second, investments may enable a social enterprise to exploit new opportunities for profit and may increase the enterprise's scale relative to when grant financed. I quantify these heuristics for the case of Husk Power, a social enterprise that has received impact investment."

"A commonly held belief among investors is that impact investing-adding environmental, social or governance criteria to the investment selection process-will require a trade-off in performance. Though this may have been true in the early days of impact investing, the space has evolved significantly in the last decade.
In this paper, we will evaluate current impact investing by examining:
- What impact investing is and how it has evolved to be a viable investment approach
- How investors can maintain returns in their portfolios while investing for impact
- How impact investing can be used to identify risks and opportunities in the market
- Historical returns from a range of impact investments
- How investors can start accessing the impact investing marketplace today"

"This report from Oxfam and Sumerian Partners questions some of the assumptions around impact investment and highlights the experience of enterprises contributing to poverty reduction so that they might be better served by the field. It argues that the sector risks being discredited due to rising, unrealistic expectations about financial returns."

"The world is on the brink of a revolution in how we solve society's toughest problems. The force driving this revolution is "impact investing", which harnesses entrepreneurship, innovation and capital to power social progress. This report, Impact Investing: The Invisible Heart of Markets - Harnessing the power of entrepreneurship, innovation and capital for public good, examines what is needed to catalyse the growth of a global market for impact investment. It makes recommendations that can be implemented across Taskforce countries and beyond to deliver better social outcomes and improve millions of lives across the world. The report calls on governments and the financial sector to take action to unleash $1 trillion of private sector impact investment to tackle social problems."

"Este estudo setorial faz parte de uma série publicada pela ANDE em 2019 que foi projetada para criar uma base de conhecimento comum a partir da qual o setor de Pequenas Empresas em Crescimento (SGB na sigla em inglês) pode trabalhar na esperança de avançar em direção aos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento selecionados. Cada breve resumo destaca como as SGBs podem desempenhar um papel importante nesse progresso. Esta série servirá como ponto de partida para impulsionar a conversa e moldar a estratégia da ANDE em relação a cada uma dessas áreas-chave, com o reconhecimento de que essa não é uma coleção aprofundada da pesquisa/literatura sobre esses tópicos."

"Imazon, a Brazilian nonprofit promoting sustainable development of the Amazon, exemplifies how social ventures can stay small to achieve large impact. This case study is relevant for any social enterprise working to have outsized impact by collaborating with partners to change systems. It is also relevant for any enterprise using data to create incentives for change."

"Impact due diligence creates value for a broad range of stakeholders across the impact investing ecosystem, including impact investors, investees and the field at large. Key benefits include fostering internal alignment around intended impacts and priorities, deepening understanding of investees’ activities, supporting the construction of more positively impactful portfolios, improving investor and investees’ ability to communicate impact, strengthening relationships between investees and investors, and increasing firms’ ability to attract additional capital. In combination, the benefits of widespread adoption of impact due diligence should attract additional capital to the field and thereby foster the formation of more inclusive and sustainable financial markets."Impact Due Diligence: Emerging Best Practices" is the first of two reports intended to elevate the practice of impact due diligence."