How do you drive change in social value?
Posted: December 10, 2024
An introduction to MeasureUp’s vision, mission, and two-year plan
By Catherine Manning
When we set out on this journey to create MeasureUp, we knew we were taking on a challenge that has frustrated many of us in the field of social value. It’s a landscape filled with well-meaning efforts, but too often muddied by opaque methodologies, unverified claims, and frameworks that fall short of helping us show the real difference we’re making. MeasureUp was born out of a belief that we can do better, together.
Why we’re here: An opportunity to bring real change
At MeasureUp, our vision is simple but ambitious: to empower those delivering social good with tools that help not just estimate impact but evidence it.
By promoting clarity in valuation, our vision is one where decisions—whether awarding, winning and managing our goods, works, services, and business decisions—are informed by trustworthy data that reflects real social and environmental contributions. Publicly funded data and research, we believe, should be accessible, usable, and used to inform our impact valuations.
Our mission: Build a credible and progressive framework
Our mission over the next two years is to build and promote a credible, progressive valuation framework for anyone who wants to take a stakeholder-focused approach to their impact measurement. MeasureUp will be:
- Open and transparent – You’ll know exactly how we arrived at the numbers, and it will be freely available to all.
- Practical and pragmatic – It’s designed for real-world use, not just theory.
- Sustainable and progressive – It will be built and managed by expert impact practitioners to help it evolve and grow in value.
The MeasureUp framework
We’re not here to create another one-size-fits-all solution. MeasureUp is for those who believe in stakeholder-focused measurement and valuation, where the voices of the people and communities impacted by our work are at the heart of how we value it.
For MeasureUp’s adoption to grow, we aim to provide:
- A framework of common social and environmental activities & outcomes
- Well-researched values that prioritise stakeholder experience and wellbeing
- Coverage of the key priority areas for government, business, and VCSE purposes
- Graded levels that enable users to take practical steps towards more accurately estimating and evidencing social value
When building this framework, we will continue to ensure that the very core of MeasureUp stay true to the following:
- Be principle-led, and human-focused – Our value set will always align to best practices and social value principles.
- Have a broader and deeper range of values – We will expand the range of values available in terms of breadth (number of outcomes valued) and depth (accuracy of value estimation).
- Be optimised for accessibility – The framework will be freely available and open to all, collaborative and continually developed in a way that is accessible and informs and empowers our users.
- Promote good impact practice – We will always emphasise that the framework is (only) a part of good, holistic impact practice, and ensure that it develops in a way that supports that practice.
Where we are going with MeasureUp
Right now, MeasureUp is still in its early days—a minimum viable product. We’ve started with 21 published values spanning the UK’s wellbeing dimensions, and there’s so much more we need to build. Some areas, like environmental and equality-focused values, are clear priorities.
But here’s the exciting part: we already have a growing community of supporters and partners who see the potential of this framework to do things differently. They’re people like you—experts, practitioners, and change-makers who are frustrated by the limitations of existing options and ready for a new approach.
Our two-year plan
The next two years are all about creating a virtuous cycle: improving the quality of the framework and increasing its adoption. Here’s how we’ll do it:
- Engage with organisations that share our vision – We’ll listen to your needs and challenges, making sure MeasureUp works for you.
- Expand the framework – More values, more depth, more alignment with key priorities like procurement and wellbeing.
- Make it accessible – Whether you’re new to impact measurement or an expert, we want this framework to be easy to use but substantial enough to meet your needs.
- Build a community of advocates – MeasureUp will thrive when it’s shaped by practitioners who believe in its potential.
- Strengthen its credibility – By aligning with standards and gaining recognition from key bodies, we’ll increase trust and adoption.
Why this matters
If you’re reading this, you already know how critical it is to get valuation right. The wrong frameworks can drive the wrong behaviours, misrepresent the work we do, and ultimately undermine trust in social value itself.
MeasureUp is different because we aim to make clear it is not about making claims that sound good on paper; it’s about social and environmental activities that make a lasting impact, and valuations that clearly reflect the real, complex, and vital work we do. It’s about helping all of us move beyond estimates to evidence, and from numbers to narratives that represent the reality for those most affected. All without charging for it.
An invitation to join us
We know we’re not alone in wanting better. Whether you’re working in procurement, advising organisations on ESG, or leading change in your community, MeasureUp is being designed with you in mind.
This isn’t just a framework—it’s an opportunity to be part of a change and movement. One that values honesty, transparency, and collaboration. One that we hope will inspire all of us to think bigger about the impact we can create and how we can evidence it.
If this speaks to you, we’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and even your challenges. Please don’t hesitate to reach out, ask questions and feedback – we want MeasureUp to be a success and it will come down to this community to build it right.
Read our full Mission, Vision, Values, and 2 Year Strategy below.