Featured Keystone Client: Grassroots Business Fund

The Grassroots Business Fund (GBF) is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to build and support high impact intermediary organizations that provide sustainable economic opportunities to thousands of people at the base of the economic pyramid. GBF provides these organizations with appropriate financing and targeted technical assistance to enable them to become catalysts for economic growth and social change.

 Over the past year, GBF has made a significant investment in its own evaluation systems, captured in what we believe is a 'best in class' framework called Impact Planning, Assessment and Learning (iPAL) framework (available here).

 In addition to developing and staffing their IPAL system, GBF has:

- run a Keystone client survey and gathered with their clients in to discuss the results; and published the findings!

- sponsored a public workshop -- Metrics from the Ground Up -- and related website to share their learning with their peers and create an ongoing platform for practical exchange.

- supported their clients to undertake their own client surveys. The GBF investees use this end beneficiary data to improve their services and GBF uses the data to understand its downstream impacts.

Typically entrepreneurial, GBF is now, alongside Acumen Fund, championing a Keystone proposal to run a common client survey across a cohort of like social investment funds.

Keystone provides ongoing, light touch consultancy support to GBF as it continues to lead its field in evaluation practice.

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