What Impact Management Project does

Impact Management Project (IMP) is a Boston-based organization founded in 2016 that convened practitioners to build global consensus on how to measure, assess, and report impacts on people and the environment. Its core technology is the IRIS+ system and the Five Dimensions of Impact framework—a universal logic structured around What, Who, How Much, Contribution, and Risk—designed to give enterprises and investors a common vocabulary for screening deals, assessing performance, and integrating impact considerations into investment decision-making. The IMP norms align with adjacent standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Following the planned conclusion of the original IMP initiative in 2021, stewardship of the norms transitioned to Impact Frontiers, a learning and market-building collaboration housed by Bridges Fund Management.

Impact Frontiers' product portfolio extends beyond the Five Dimensions framework to include the ABC of Enterprise Impact classification (categorizing impact at outcome, enterprise, and portfolio levels), Investor Contribution guidance, Investment Classification, Impact-Financial Integration methodology (structured around five steps toward integration), and Impact Performance Reporting Norms Version 1, which establishes shared expectations for reporting of impact results by asset managers in private markets. The organization also produces educational services including self-paced Online Curriculum and peer-learning Cohort Programs (SIM, CIIN, CDFI, Early Stage, Impact Capital Managers, Multi-Asset, Canada Social Finance Fund, FIMM), as well as a Resources and Examples Library. An Advancing Social Equity Through Impact Management initiative, launched in 2024, extends the framework into racial, gender, and data equity domains.

The business model is field-building rather than commercial: all norms, guides, and resources are distributed free of charge under Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0, available in English, Japanese, and Spanish, with no public pricing and no disclosed revenue. The entity operates with 1-10 employees and is housed by Bridges Fund Management, a private equity firm focused on sustainable and impact investing. Customer engagement spans asset managers, asset owners, allocators, consultants, assurance providers, enterprises, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), with over 3,000 practitioners having contributed to the original 2016-2018 norms-building process and 350+ organizations participating in the Impact Performance Reporting Norms consultation. Distribution occurs through website downloads, cohort enrollment, and partner organizations including collaborations with leading public-good standards providers via the Impact Management Platform.

Name

Impact Management Project

Legal name

Impact Frontiers

Website

https://impactmanagementproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Impact Management Project (Impact Frontiers) develops consensus-based impact measurement frameworks—including the Five Dimensions of Impact, IRIS+ system, and Impact Performance Reporting Norms—for asset managers, investors, enterprises, and CDFIs, stewarding these standards since 2016 through free resources, cohort programs, and field-building initiatives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Measurement and Management Services

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG Data, Ratings & Research (Providers, Methodologies, Analytics) (FSAAALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

ESG Governance, Sustainability Reporting & Assurance Advisory (BPAHAFAJ), ESG, Sustainability & Impact Research (BPAHALAL)

Keywords

• Impact measurement frameworks
• Impact management norms
• Sustainability reporting standards
• Impact investing education
• Social impact analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

IMP develops and disseminates consensus-based norms and frameworks for impact measurement, assessment and reporting, including the IRIS+ system and the Five Dimensions of Impact framework (What, Who, How Much, Contribution, Risk). Through its successor vehicle Impact Frontiers, it operationalizes these norms via cohort-based learning programs, an online curriculum, performance reporting norms and social equity initiatives that help investors and enterprises integrate impact considerations into investment decision-making.

Product overview

The Impact Management Project (IMP) developed a comprehensive suite of impact measurement and management frameworks that have been transitioned to Impact Frontiers. The core offering consists of the IRIS+ system and the Five Dimensions of Impact framework (What, Who, How Much, Contribution, Risk), complemented by supporting tools including the ABC of Enterprise Impact classification, Investor Contribution guidance, Investment Classification system, and Impact-Financial Integration guidance. Impact Frontiers also offers the Impact Performance Reporting Norms Version 1 for private markets reporting, along with educational services including Online Curriculum and Cohort Programs. The organization continues to advance social equity through dedicated initiatives that synthesize knowledge across racial, gender, and data equity domains.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• IRIS+ System A comprehensive impact measurement framework that helps investors and other stakeholders integrate impact considerations into investment decision-making through five dimensions (What, Who, How Much, Contribution, Risk) and aligns with the Global Reporting Initiative for consistent data.
• Five Dimensions of Impact Foundational norm consisting of five dimensions (What, Who, How Much, Contribution, Impact Risk) that helps enterprises and investors understand their impacts on people and the planet.
• ABC of Enterprise Impact Classification system that helps enterprises and investors categorize and understand impact at outcome level, enterprise level, and portfolio level, and to set impact goals and compare performance.
• Investor Contribution Guidance on assessing and measuring the contribution that investors make to the impact outcomes of their investments, enabling consistent attribution analysis.
• Investment Classification Framework for classifying investments based on their intended impact type and strategy to enable comparability across portfolios.
• Impact-Financial Integration Guidance on integrating impact considerations with financial data, analyses, and processes, structured around five steps toward integration, including impact ratings and financial valuation metrics.
• Impact Performance Reporting Norms Version 1 Shared expectations for the reporting of impact results by asset managers in private markets, addressing the content, structure and format of impact performance reports for asset managers, asset owners and allocators.
• Online Curriculum Self-paced educational resources covering key concepts in impact management, impact-financial integration and impact classification for investors and practitioners.
• Cohort Program Peer-learning cohort program, including SIM, CIIN, CDFI, Early Stage, Impact Capital Managers, Multi-Asset, Canada Social Finance Fund and FIMM cohorts, that helps investors build impact management capabilities.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN): GIIN operates the IRIS+ system and Core Characteristics of Impact Investing, which overlap directly with IMP/Impact Frontiers norms around impact measurement, management, and classification for investors. The two organizations collaborated historically (IRIS+ was stewarded by GIIN) and compete for institutional impact-investing mindshare.
• Social Value International: Social Value International is the global network for Social Return on Investment (SROI) and social-value measurement. It offers a competing practitioner framework, certification scheme, and community programs directly comparable to Impact Frontiers' Five Dimensions and cohort model.
• HIPSO (Impact Principles for Impact Investing): HIPSO convenes signatories around a set of principles for impact investing, similar to IFC's Operating Principles. It represents a parallel consensus-building effort for the impact-investing community and competes with Impact Frontiers for institutional buy-in on impact frameworks.
• ImpactBase (by GIIN): ImpactBase is GIIN's directory of impact-investing funds and intermediaries, providing classification and transparency infrastructure for the impact-investing market. While more of a directory than a measurement framework, it overlaps with Impact Frontiers' investor-classification and impact-financial integration work.
• B Lab: B Lab operates the B Impact Assessment used by enterprises and investors to measure social and environmental performance, and stewards the related standards. It is a directly comparable impact-measurement framework provider with an enterprise certification model parallel to Impact Frontiers' classification norms.
• IFC Operating Principles for Impact Management: The IFC's Operating Principles for Impact Management define a set of impact-management commitments adopted by 150+ signatories including major PE firms. It overlaps with Impact Frontiers' norms around investor contribution, impact classification, and reporting in private markets.

Emerging players

• Climate Bonds Initiative: Climate Bonds Initiative operates sector-specific standards (e.g., for green bonds, agriculture) that include measurement and certification mechanisms. It represents an adjacent thematic standard-setter that competes for adoption attention within impact-investing frameworks.
• OECD Impact Standards for Social and Environmental Outcomes: OECD has been developing Impact Standards for enterprises and investors as part of its broader social-economy and impact-investing policy work. It is an emerging peer in the same consensus-building, standards-setting niche that Impact Frontiers occupies.

Broad incumbents

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI is the most widely adopted sustainability reporting standard globally, used by tens of thousands of organizations. IRIS+ was explicitly aligned with GRI, and Impact Frontiers norms often sit alongside GRI disclosures — making GRI a broader incumbent in the same impact/sustainability measurement space.
• ISSB / IFRS Foundation: ISSB (incorporating SASB/VRF) issues IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability disclosure standards that increasingly set the global benchmark for sustainability reporting. Its rise shapes the competitive landscape for voluntary frameworks like Impact Frontiers, particularly for listed-market reporting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/impactmanagementproject
• Xx.com/impmgmt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Impact Management Project