Articles by Miranda Hansen
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Guest Articles
Monday
March 2
2026Juan Taborda Burgos / Jorge Bouchot / Miranda Hansen
The Impact Sector is Confusing Satisfaction with Impact: Rethinking the Growing Reliance on Lean Data and Perception Surveys
Measurement standards in the impact sector have shifted toward “lean data,” a cost-effective approach that often leverages perception surveys — i.e., forms that ask individuals to rate their personal experience with a program or organization — to quantify success. But as Juan Taborda Burgos, Jorge Bouchot and Miranda Hansen at Root Capital argue, perception-based metrics can mask a program’s ineffectiveness, potentially leading organizations to scale interventions that do not work. They share insights from a recent Root Capital report that reveal the downsides of relying solely on perception data, and offer four actionable principles that can help leaders navigate the pressure to demonstrate impact — while avoiding costly mistakes.
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- Agriculture, Investing, Social Enterprise
