PORTFOLIO COMPANY

RESEARCH PROJECT

 

The ICM Institute’s 2025 research initiative is focused on impact measurement and management from the company perspective.

The research will be based on a survey of the 4,000+ portfolio companies the ICM member network has collectively invested in and recommended companies through trusted peer impact investor networks. The data collected will inform a field-building report to improve understanding of how impact measurement & management (IMM) data requests from your investors can be most effective, efficient, and decision-useful. The report will also outline best practices for General Partners (GPs) & portfolio company engagement, including recommendations for portfolio companies, fund managers, and allocators, related to IMM. 

Research project partners include North & Sur and UpMetrics. Project Steering Committee partners include leaders from Harvard Business School, SJF Ventures, Builders Vision, Accion, HCAP Partners, and Morrison Foerster. ICM and the ICM Institute are nonprofit and nonpartisan; research is funded through grants and association dues.

Please see our FAQs below for more information. If you have any additional questions or are interested in getting involved, please reach out to:

Justin MacLennan, Analyst, IMM & Research: jmaclennan@impactcapitalmanagers.com

General FAQ

  • Any public or private for-profit companies with at least one impact investor* are eligible to complete the survey.

    Interested in completing the survey? Indicate your interest here, and the ICM team will be in touch.

    *Defined as a source of capital from an investor that requests non-financial social/environmental impact data on a regular basis.

  • The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.

  • We recommend that this survey be completed by or with someone in your company who is in charge of gathering and reporting impact data* to investors.

    *Defined as information/metrics that help you measure and understand the social and environmental impacts of your company's activities on people or the planet.

  • ICM is sharing this survey with 4,000+ ICM member portfolio companies and additional non-ICM portfolio companies (with at least one impact investor) through trusted peer networks.

  • Responses will be open from May until July 1st, 2025.  


  • Please reach out to Justin, Analyst, IMM and Research, with any questions about the project.

    jmaclennan@impactcapitalmanagers.com


 

Portfolio Companies FAQ

  • Participating portfolio companies will gain access to:

    • Early access to the research findings

    • Exclusive free consultations from Impact Measurement and Management service providers in our network

    • Acknowledgement in the report and relevant communications (if you so choose)

    • An invitation to attend an invite-only event, with the opportunity to network with potential investors

  • The survey requires a work email address to ensure data quality and to allow the ICM team to contact you about the benefits of completion.

    Responses will be completely confidential to the ICM team. Results will only be shared in an aggregated format. We will not share your information with any investors or 3rd-party.

  • Impact Capital Managers (ICM), is the leading association of 150+ private capital fund managers investing for superior returns and meaningful impact.

Fund Managers FAQ

  • Funds with portfolio company responses will get access to: 

    • A ticket to the in-person launch event featuring GPs, LPs, and portfolio companies 

    • Acknowledgment in the report and relevant communications (if you so choose)

    • An invitation to an ICM member-only webinar focused on impact measurement and portfolio support functions

    • For funds receiving more than 10 portfolio company responses, a dashboard from UpMetrics showing the fund’s aggregate responses benchmarked against the overall results