Date: Monday, January 27, 2025
Hi everyone! We’re Morgan Buras-Finlay and Laura Budzyna, your 2024 Co-Chairs for the Social Finance TIG. As part of this week’s AEA365 Blog Week, we’re thrilled to highlight one of our biggest accomplishments this year: the launch of the Social Finance Primer. The Primer was written to fill a knowledge and confidence gap for many Evaluators. Jill Turnauer and Liz McGuinness were primary authors, although it was developed through a consultative process with impact measurement and management (IMM) experts and an extensive literature review.
The Social Finance Primer embodies what we strive for as a TIG. It’s a tool for bridge-building, connecting evaluators with the broader social finance community and equipping them to bring evaluation to spaces where it’s needed but often overlooked.
The Social Finance Primer is a resource created by the Social Finance TIG, and it was written to support evaluators stepping into the evolving world of social finance. If you’ve ever wondered what role evaluation plays in organizations and initiatives that aim to generate both social and financial returns, this guide is for you.
Social finance is a growing field, and evaluators are uniquely positioned to contribute to its development. Whether you’re curious about the basics or ready to deepen your engagement, the Primer offers an accessible introduction to key concepts, frameworks, and tools.
The Primer is designed for evaluators at all levels of experience. Here are just a few highlights:
The role of evaluators in the social finance space is nascent, but important. Investors, businesses, and nonprofits alike are seeking ways to measure the impact of their work, but they may lack awareness of traditional approaches, or those approaches don’t always fit. Evaluators have a unique opportunity to bring clarity and accountability to this space, helping stakeholders understand what works and why.
The Social Finance Primer equips you with the knowledge to step into this role confidently. Whether you’re working in corporate philanthropy, impact investing, or innovative finance, it offers a foundation for meaningful contributions.
The Primer is a living document. As the field evolves, so will this resource. We invite you to engage with it, share feedback, and contribute to its future iterations.
And if the Primer sparks your interest, we encourage you to dive deeper into this week’s AEA365 Blog series. Many of the blogs build on themes covered in the Primer, including case studies and practical tips for applying these concepts in your work.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Social Finance TIG Week with our colleagues in the Social Finance Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our SF TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.