Evaluating social impact in practice: Constructing a response to institutional demand in a French nonprofit organization

Julien Kleszczowski and Nathalie Raulet‐Croset

Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 2022, vol. 93, issue 2, 357-380

Abstract: Research into nonprofit organizations’ (NPOs) social impact—and especially how it is measured—has drawn attention in recent years. Social impact evaluation (SIE) is a form of institutional pressure exerted on NPOs and can be considered a rational myth (Meyer & Rowan, 1977). In this article, we focus on the organizational response to this institutional demand and use the theoretical framework of inhabited institutions (Hallett & Ventresca, 2006) to analyze the local dynamics of SIE implementation. The research is based on a case study and uses an action research methodology to investigate the long‐term SIE appropriation process in a large French charity that supports young people facing social difficulties. Although external actors have mostly supported the SIE, we show that internal actors have gradually developed a localized and “pragmatic” response to the institutional pressure to SIE. We also show that this response has been constructed through different phases of appropriation and has modified the institutional prescriptions of SIE.

Date: 2022
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