By Relativ Impact
For foundations, NGOs, and donors, data now plays a central role in philanthropy. There is growing pressure to show results, count outcomes, and prove that funding is making a difference. But an important question is often left unasked: what if the way we measure impact is rooted in the same systems of inequality we are trying to change?
For funders, decolonising impact measurement starts with questioning the idea that standardised metrics are always neutral or objective. While standard metrics can make comparison easier, they can also erase local context. When funders rely only on predefined indicators, they risk imposing outside ideas of success and missing the changes that communities themselves value most.
These disconnected measurement practices often create barriers between NGOs and funders. Many NGOs find themselves translating rich, lived experiences into numbers that were never designed to capture their real impact. Reporting on these externally defined metrics takes time and energy away from learning, adapting, and building relationships with communities.
When the metric misses the impact
We saw this clearly in our work with an organisation supporting early childhood development centres (ECDs). The funder measured success by whether schools ended the year with a financial surplus, a common sign of financial health. But for the schools themselves, success meant reinvesting every available resource into learning materials, teachers’ salaries, and better facilities. Under the original metrics, the ECDs appeared to be failing. In reality, they were doing exactly what they believed would best support children’s learning. The problem was not performance, but misalignment.
What this means for funders and NGOs
Decolonising impact measurement begins with rethinking who defines success, and how. Funders can play an important role by working with NGOs and communities to define what meaningful change looks like, rather than prescribing it in advance. This also means recognising that good measurement requires support, including training, realistic expectations, and flexibility, not just compliance.
For NGOs, decolonising impact measurement means reclaiming space to define indicators that reflect local priorities and lived realities. It also means choosing when and how to align with global reporting frameworks, rather than being forced to adopt them. Measurement should drive learning and improvement, not function only as a reporting requirement.
Participatory tools as a path forward
Beyond definitions and expectations, how impact is measured also matters. Participatory tools can shift measurement from extraction to collaboration, helping to share power in how knowledge is created and used.
In Mexico, we co-created Wisdom Circles with Kukulmat, a data-collection method inspired by Mayan knowledge systems. The approach centres collective reflection, storytelling, and mindful data collection. Rather than extracting information, the process itself becomes a space for shared learning and meaning-making.
Adaptable to local contexts, Wisdom Circles have been used by foundations across North and South America to bring community members, partners, and teams into open, trust-building dialogue about how investments affect housing, education, and economic opportunity.
In Florida, we worked with a funder to design public dashboards to track and share progress openly. These dashboards are not only for funders. They are designed for community members as well, supporting transparency, accountability, and shared ownership of outcomes. The data shared showcases progress within their impact areas of place, programs, and people, and towards their impact goal of elevated health and prosperity for their community.
The Impact Measurement Framework, built as the foundation for the dashboard, includes not only its own indicators and metrics but also those measured by its wide network of partners, ensuring a community-built approach to reporting.
Moving forward, together
Some changes apply across the sector. Measuring what matters, choosing tools that fit local contexts, and treating data as a shared resource are collective responsibilities. Decolonising impact measurement requires a shift from extraction to collaboration, from compliance to learning, and from individual accountability to shared stewardship.
If impact is truly about people and communities, then measurement must start and end with them. For funders, this means moving beyond box-ticking and toward trust, partnership, and shared learning. Decolonising impact measurement is not about removing accountability. It is about redefining accountability in ways that support equity, agency, and lasting change.
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