Social impact investment can provide new ways to more efficiently and effectively
allocate public and private capital to address social and economic challenges at the
global, national and local levels. While these innovative market-based approaches
will not replace the core role of the public sector or the need for philanthropy,
they can provide a potentially powerful means for leveraging existing capital.
This report provides a framework for assessing the social impact investment market
and focuses on the need to build the evidence base, in particular for impact assessment
compared to existing social service delivery models. The report highlights the importance
of further international collaboration in developing global standards on definitions,
data collection, impact measurement and evaluation of policies as well as experience
sharing between players in the market. International organisations can play an important
role in facilitating these collaborations as well as conducting further analysis and
data collection.