What Exactly is Riddl? Solving the Riddle of Riddl
So you’ve heard about Riddl, the tech platform that “manages and measures impact investments for companies doing good in the world and those who invest in them”. You might still have questions though. For example: what exactly is social impact or impact investing and how does Riddl help funders and organizations in this space? We decided to break it down for you to help you solve the riddle of Riddl. Ready? Here we go!
Social Impact/Impact Investing: Before we jump into discussing our various platform components, it’s important to have a solid understanding of social impact and impact investing. Social impact can be defined as the effect on people and communities that happens as a result of an action or inaction, an activity, project, program, or policy. Impact investing is simply investing in a way that produces tangible social and environmental good. For example, an impact investment might fund organizations that produce renewable energy.
Now that you understand the basics, let’s take a look at the different components within the Riddl platform, and how these can help those in the social impact or impact investing space.
Workspaces: When you first log into the Riddl platform, you’ll be taken to your assigned workspace. You might be a part of more than one workspace. Why? Great question! Different companies might want their own spot to collaborate, as would various departments within a social impact organization. The good news is you can easily toggle between workspaces if you are a member of more than one with just a click of a button.
Feed: If you’ve used social media at all (and who hasn’t?), you’ll be familiar with the idea of a feed. When you first log in, you’ll see a feed of all recent activity in your workspace. Have fun scrolling!
Impact Map: In this space, you can see a holistic view of how all the elements within Riddl come together and connect. The Impact Map serves as your roadmap for how to achieve your desired impact. This is a newer section in our platform and we’re pretty excited about it. We think you will be too.
Outcomes: In the social impact space, outcomes are defined as the change that is caused by an action or activity. In Riddl, you can set up associated Indicators and Stakeholders. These can then be used to perform SROI (Social Return on Investment) calculations in the Impact Report or even added to a Dashboard for review and reporting. Neat, right?
Activities: Here, we organize your data by activities. This means programs, initiatives, or services that your organization operates, funds, or supports. Activities produce the outputs and outcomes that you will measure and track with Riddl.
Indicators: These are measures that provide key information on how much of an outcome is expected to happen or has happened. In Riddl, they help you track progress of things you’re measuring. You can even choose to set targets and Riddl will show how you are progressing towards upcoming milestones. So useful!
Datasets: Remember the old Burger King slogan: ‘Have it your way’? It’s the same with datasets: you define the structure of the data so it’s tailored to your exact needs using our dataset definition feature. You can link datasets to indicators so your progress is updated at the click of a button. Easily upload CSV files into datasets if you are tracking some of your metrics elsewhere, or have past data to add to the tool. You can think of datasets like supercharged spreadsheet data.
Dashboards: Who doesn’t love an eye-catching dashboard? In Riddl, you can build as many as you need, control the content and layout, and get a clear picture of your data. You can also share dashboards with people not in your workspace, like higher-ups, using a shareable link. Easy!
Impact Reports: By using the data from your Outcomes section and by adding additional information, you can create Impact Reports to clearly communicate your outcomes. The tool walks you through a 7-step process asking questions about different impact measurement variables such as displacement, drop-off, inputs, and financial valuation, to name a few. Like Dashboards, these can also be shared with others in your company or organization who may not be in your workspace.
Portfolio: Let’s say you’re a funder, interested in tracking the impact of certain organizations. Or maybe your organization is working with other orgs toward shared impact goals and you want to keep an eye on what everyone is doing. You can choose the correct view based on your specific role, and get the total picture of the social impact work that matters to you.
Profile: Similar to the Profile section in most software platforms, this is where you add your personal information. We’ve also included a checkbox to receive progress update and comment notifications as well, because we believe staying informed is key to a strong collaborative environment.
Originally published at https://riddl-tech.medium.com on August 31, 2022.
