Three organizations have come together to establish the Social Impact Analysts (SIA) Association, a new international membership body designed to support the practice and profession of analysing not-for-profits. The founding partners are New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), a UK-based charity think-tank and consultancy, the Bertelsmann Foundation, based in Germany, and the Netherlands-based Adessium Foundation.

The Association will bring together individuals from around the world who are seeking to understand what makes not-for-profits effective. Members might be based in foundations, businesses, universities or not-for-profits. ‘Whether you’re an evaluation officer at a charity, a grantmaking officer at a foundation or an academic interested in how charities work, we’d like you to get involved in this new network,’ says Sue Wixley of NPC.

The network will provide members with opportunities, now lacking, for ongoing dialogue on social impact analysis and for the exchange of approaches and good practices. The aim is to improve understanding and standards. Ultimately, it is hoped, this will boost the way not-for-profit organizations work. The Association also aims to nurture and promote the profession of social impact analysis, contributing towards the development of this as a career.

The decision to set up the SIA Association follows several years of extensive consultation. This started with market research in 2007, followed by the ‘Valuing impact’ conference in London in the summer of 2009, where participants expressed enthusiasm for the idea of a new professional body.

Recruitment is now under way for a coordinator, who will be based in NPC’s London office and will be responsible for setting up and promoting the new organization. The Association will open its doors to new members in the late summer and the first annual conference is planned for late 2011.

For more information
Contact Sue Wixley on swixley@philanthropycapital.org