Data: Financial, Operational, and Social Metrics
GBF has contributed performance data for analysis in the first IRIS data report released by the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS) initiative of the Global Impact Investing Network. IRIS is a common language for defining, tracking, and reporting the social, environmental, and financial performance of an organization. This equips GBF with the ability to compare financial, operational, social and environmental metrics across the impact investing industry.
GBF works with its portfolio companies to determine the financial, operational and social IRIS metrics that are relevant to their key business operations and desired social impact. Those metrics are reported to GBF on a quarterly basis.
Financial Metrics
Portfolio Companies: Financial metrics are most often reported through the company’s income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. Metrics include revenues, cost of goods sold, operating expenses, and gross margin.
Grassroots Business Fund: Financial metrics include the amount of funds it has raised, the size of its investment pipeline and the current yield on the portfolio
Operational Metrics
Portfolio Companies: Operational metrics vary greatly by sector, and include the number of hectares farmed for agribusinesses or the average revenue per user (ARPU) for investments in the BoP services sector
Grassroots Business Fund: Operational metrics include the percentage of on time reporting and reflows from its portfolio companies, the percentage of administration costs covered with investment returns, opening additional field offices, staff satisfaction and turnover
Social Metrics
Social metrics give GBF and its portfolio companies a picture of the social impact the high impact businesses are having on their suppliers or clients. It is important to note that many metrics GBF considers to be social metrics are actually operational metrics for high impact businesses. Social metrics include the number of farmers, artisans, entrepreneurs or BoP consumers a company is supplying from or selling to, the net income or savings to those people, and the number of female employees and suppliers
