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What is the Outcomes Matrix?

The Outcomes Matrix is a practical and interactive tool to help organisations to plan and measure their social impact.

Planning, measuring and communicating your social impact and the outcomes of your organisation is essential for anyone considering or actively pursuing social investment. 

Social investors look for both financial and social return (watch this video to learn more about this) and tools like the Outcomes Matrix can have you consolidate and communicate your impact. 

The Outcomes Matrix was first developed in 2011 by Big Society Capital, Social Value UK, Investing For Good, Outcomes Star and New Philanthropy Capital and hosted by Good Finance. In this new release, we have made some key changes to improve your user experience and update the tool itself. 

What does it enable me to do?

The Outcomes Matrix is a useful tool to:

• Gain a starting point for planning and measuring your social impact outcomes 
• Understand and explore equality, diversity and inclusion in the context of impact measurement and management 
• Consolidate and communicate your impact to social investors and key stakeholders
• Think about future areas of development for your organisation. 

How is it different from before? 

The original outcomes matrix was developed in 2011. Since then, a lot has changed. This new release follows a review of the Outcomes Matrix and brings it up to date. 

This new release:

• Allows for a better user experience: We’ve worked hard to improve your experience using the tool. This new version allows you to move back and forth through the steps, customising, adding and editing your responses as you go. 
• Enables you to save and keep your responses: You can also download your responses at the end, and keep your responses in a version that is yours to use as you want! 
• Fuels understanding of key equality and human rights frameworks as part of your impact practice. 

How does it include diversity, equity and inclusion? 

After a period of consultations with frontline organisations, fund managers and equalities experts, we made some key changes to the Outcomes Matrix in order to reflect current thinking on equalities. This included: 

• Updates to the language used. For example, switching from seeking ‘equal’ access to products, services and opportunities to ‘equitable’ access to products, services and opportunities. We also no longer refer to ‘beneficiary groups’ and now talk about service users. Language is an essential tool in signaling a shift in thinking, and these terms reflect a move away from existing power structures and dynamics. 
• Intersectional approach: We have also reframed this thinking to account for intersectionality and the organisations working with people with complex and connected issues. This also allows you to explore how this may affect their ability to access your product or service and achieve the intended outcomes.

“We redesigned the outcomes matrix to better reflect the importance of embedding equality and equity, in measuring outcomes for greater impact. This was a collaborative process that was also focused on improving the user experience”

- Mwansa Phiri, Social Impact Manager at Big Society Capital. 

Over 140+ Good Finance users have inputted into the redevelopment of the Outcomes Matrix, and we’re both excited for you to explore the new tool and open to your feedback!

Try the new and improved Outcomes Matrix.

If you have any questions or thoughts, you can get in touch by emailing aconstable@goodfinance.org.uk.