Context

Determined to harmonise and leverage the power of impact management, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change used maze’s impact advisory tool to develop a single impact framework to be adopted across the whole organisation.

Timeline

2024

Team & Tools

Amanda Feldman, António Miguel, Cristina Almeida, Francisco Cardoso da Costa, Rita Brito e Faro - Impact Advisory

Geographies covered

Global

The challenge

TBI collaborated with maze to address the following key challenges:

1. Developing a single narrative to describe TBI’s impact
2. Identifying the metrics that best quantify TBI’s impact
3. Designing an operating model that can enable TBI to deliver its impact objectives

Solving these challenges would unlock TBI’s impact potential through more effective fundraising, business development, partnerships, media attention and team alignment.

The solution

Maze addressed these challenges in a 45-day impact advisory project. The result was an all-encompassing framework that reflects the work of both client-facing and back-office teams, measured by metrics that collectively can communicate TBI’s work to its main audiences. This makes the impact framework a fundamental tool to build the impact narrative of TBI and each of its projects and make it adaptable to the target audience.

The outcomes

The 3 key success factors

How this could apply to you

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• Creation of an impact framework that reflects the work of all teams inside TBI and that can be presented publicly.
• Curation of metrics applicable to the work that TBI does to deliver its value proposition, that tell a story and help make better decisions.
• Recommendation of a few options for TBI’s operational model, based on benchmarking and internal context analysis.

Quote

1. Learning about TBI’s reality and engaging key teams

Creating a framework that can reflect the work of all teams in one organisation can be quite a challenge. It was particularly important to spend a significant amount of time getting to know the organisation, the mandate of the different departments and how they intersect, the concepts commonly used, what has worked in the past and what has not. This was done mainly through interviews with key decision-makers. We also engaged teams in steering meetings to collect feedback, trying to anticipate how the framework would land on their teams. This allowed us to iterate frequently and make the necessary changes to make the impact framework as inclusive as possible organisation-wide.

2. Finding the balance between using existing frameworks and building from scratch

Many experts already debated how to measure impact and develop off-the-shelf solutions. Although these can be very useful, they will likely not be fully fit for purpose for all organisations. The challenge lies in adapting and combining these international frameworks to reflect an organisation’s mission accurately.

maze built on the work done by the Impact Norms to create a tailor-made impact framework that can narrate TBI’s work to its different audiences—clients, partners, donors, and employees.

3. Testing and iterating

No matter how much desk research is done, the solution is never going to come out right at first. Testing and iterating with users is what provides the most relevant insights.

During the project, maze continuously tested the relevance of the new framework and concepts with the most relevant teams. Some initial ideas were dropped, others were kept and further developed. At the end of the project, TBI was given the necessary time to test the framework with real projects, getting back to maze with questions and suggestions for changes.

Whether you’re a foundation, an NGO, a company, or any other type of entity, it’s a given that you are impacting the planet and society. The main questions are: what is the impact, who, and how much are you impacting?

It’s our duty to ensure we minimise our negative impacts and maximise our positive ones. Knowing the answers to those questions is the first step to taking action.

At maze, we help you understand the power you have in your hands to positively impact society and the planet.