Common Impact Data Standard

Please review the complete user guide for this extension.

This Add-in is a utility for sharing and aggregating impact data from one or more Social Purpose Organizations. The Add-in creates a template workbook with Classes (tabs) and Properties (columns) of impact report data and links them together like a database.

This Add-in can:

• Export a JSON-LD file containing the impact data entered into the template base.
• Import multiple JSON-LD files of impact data created by other software aligned with the Common Impact Data Standard (i.e. software that can export valid JSON-LD files)

There are two intended users for this template:

• Social Purpose Organizations (SPOs) who will use the template to collect, and then export, their impact report data in the Common Impact Data Standard JSON-LD file format.
• Data Aggregators (e.g. funders, investors, networks) who will use the template to collect and view the contents of multiple JSON-LD files, and who may also use the template to export their own summary JSON-LD files.

For both of these types of users, this Add-in is presented as a low-cost, low-barrier tool to send or receive impact data in the Common Impact Data Standard JSON-LD format, at the Basic Tier of alignment, and for whom other aligned software options for managing JSON-LD imports or exports are not preferred.

This template is not intended to be an all-in-one impact measurement tool. It should be used in conjunction with other software for managing impact data e.g. other Office products, Google Sheets, a CRM product, an Airtable base, or other software products to collect and analyze data.

This Add-in assumes a user with an existing and fairly well-defined understanding of how their organization’s activities result in impact, and that the organization’s measurement practices meet the minimum standard described by the Common Foundations standard.