Impact Assessment in Social Entrepreneurship: A Staged Approach for Nascent and Very Small Sustainability-Oriented Organisations

It has been proposed that impact assessment can meet ambitions to prove and improve social and environmental performance. This becomes relevant in social entrepreneurship, with its mission to create social value. As impact assessment appears complex and resource-intensive for nascent or very small organisations, this paper identifies which dimensions are crucial for credible impact assessment and examines circumstances for their application. We propose a staged approach to impact assessment which complies with established concepts and practices while still allowing flexible application in relation to entrepreneurial ambitions and organisational circumstances. Our approach is illustrated through a multiple case study.