The Good Analyst - a new book about the power of analysis to reconnect money to social value

[Adrian Hornsby]

A good analyst, for our purposes, is one who analyses social and environmental good, as well as one who does so well or skilfully, and is in this sense good at doing it. But there is a third meaning too, as like a good Samaritan or a good witch, a good analyst can be a force for good, with a moral power and a social impact all their own. To grow impact and, as a society, to invest in it, we need to know where and how it is taking place. By discovering and providing this knowledge, the good analyst is able to drive energy and resources into the channels where it can do most good.

The Good Analyst presents our methodology for impact analysis, alongside a set of guidelines for measuring and reporting impact. But more than this, the book draws on our broader experience of impact research to lay out an overview of where the practice is today, of how we got here, and a penetrating theory of analysis itself. At a time when the world is rethinking its values quite seriously, The Good Analystargues for how a different kind of knowledge can play a pivotal role in reshaping for the better the relationship between money, impact, and the society in which we live.

The Good Analyst ebook (pdf, ipad, Kindle formats) is available to download for free.

The book is of particular potential interest to:

• social-purpose organisations, such as nonprofits, charities and social enterprises
• capitalisers and investors in the social sector, such as funders, commissioners, and foundations, funds and impact investors
• government-side policy makers, advisers and regulators
• experts including consultants, academics and impact analysts

The Good Analyst features:

• a lightning history of approaches to impact, including an overview of current practice, and a penetrating theory of analysis
• a unique methodology for analysing impact
• a set of guidelines for measuring and reporting impact

Investing for Good is an impact investment adviser. Our methodology for analyis has had three years of practical application, and has been used to analyse over 100 impact investments, ranging from the very large to the very small, and representing well in excess of $1bn of socially-motivated capital. One aspect of use is that it has supported our advisory services to clients. More importantly perhaps, from the developmental point of view, is that every piece of analysis produced using the methodology has been sent back past the analysed organisation for approval. This has led to animated and fruitful discussions around the results of the analysis, through which we learnt where our methodology was capturing value, and where it was missing things, and we needed to retool. This development-through-praxis approach was at the core of our iterative process, leading to ultimately this publication, which we are proud to release now.

[TRASI]

Adrian, thanks for sharing and congrats on the launch of the Good Analyst! Looking forward to reading it and reviewing it for inclusion in TRASI.