BACO Metrics & Measuring What Counts

Einstein once said, "Not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts." Developing tools to meaningfully measure social impact as well as financial performance of an organization is one of the biggest challenges for our field. My favorite tools are the logic model, which I learned from Barbara Kibbe, and the SROI methodology, which I learned from Jed Emerson. In the last two years, I have been more intrigued by how New Economics Foundation has build on Emerson's SROI method. Acumen Fund has spent the last few years developing a methodology for assessing the performance of the social enterprises in our portfolio, with an emphasis on keeping it very practical and building on the good work of others in the field.

This methodology is known as the BACO (best alternative charitable option) and helps us to understand the social impact and cost effectiveness of our investment as compared to other charitable options that address the same issue. This is BACO's first public appearance, so we acknowledge its limitations and know that it is certainly not a perfect framework for assessing organizations delivering critical goods and services to the poor. However, we have found great value in using it with our portfolio of social investments, and we welcome any of your ideas or questions related to how to strengthen this tool. A draft document outlining BACO with the example of AtoZ’s bednet manufacturing in Tanzania is now available online by clicking here.