Common Foundations

The Common Foundations set a minimum standard for the “how” of impact measurement in five essential practices.

Key links and documents

• Common Foundations: Current Version
• The Self-Assessment 

Common Form

The Common Form is a standardized way to represent the organizational information of a social purpose organization. It allows organizations to access their core organizational information once, then use it for multiple things like grant applications and reporting.

Key links and documents:

• Introduction to the Common Form
• Common Form: Current Version

Common Impact Data Standard

The Common Impact Data Standard is a standardized way to represent a social purpose organization’s impact model. It provides an organizing system that makes sharing and aggregating impact data easier.

Key links and documents

• Introduction to the Common Impact Data Standard
• Common Impact Data Standard: Current Version 

Common Framework

The Common Framework is still in development! It is a set of principles and rules that provide guidance on how to roll up dissimilar indicators into a measure of a group’s impact (such as a portfolio or a network of organizations).

Community-driven

The Common Approach Standards are created for—and governed by—social purpose organizations. Common Approach is committed to an inclusive, community-driven approach to building a standard.

Key links and documents:

• Theory of Change
• Guiding Principles