IRIS Standards

Framework Structure:

The IRIS indicators are organized in a framework designed to apply across sectors and geographies. Users should browse the categories and sub-categories to identify the set of IRIS indicators that align with their impact objectives. The current version of IRIS is Version 2.2, released in November 2011. 

The IRIS framework consists of six parts:

  • ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION - indicators that focus on the organization’s mission, operational model, and location
  • PRODUCT DESCRIPTION - indicators that describe the organization’s products and services and target markets
  • FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE - commonly reported financial indicators
  • OPERATIONAL IMPACT - indicators that describe the organization’s policies, employees, and environmental performance
  • PRODUCT IMPACT - indicators that describe the performance and reach of the organization's products and services
  • GLOSSARY - definitions for common terms that are referenced in the indicators

All of the indicators (with the exception of those in the Organization Description section) may be reported for the organization as a whole or for a particular product. For example, an organization that sells multiple products may choose to report on the total number of clients served by the organization, or the number of clients for a specific product, or both.

IRIS also includes a set of sector-specific indicators that may be particularly relevant to organizations whose activities impact a certain sector. When navigating the framework, filters can be used to show or hide indicators specific to the sectors described below. 

Sector Overviews:

  • Cross Sector

    Cross-sector indicators are indicators that may be relevant to an organization regardless of sector. Within the cross-sector indicators there are sections with additional granularity, such as water used by the organization’s operations or the demographic break-out of the organization’s clients, which may only be useful to some organizations.

  • Agriculture

    The agriculture indicators have been designed to capture many of the environmental aspects of agriculture practices as well as agricultural productivity performance measures. These indicators may be pertinent to organizations operating throughout the agricultural value chain. 

  • Education

    The education indicators have been designed to capture some of the core features of schools such as facilities, teachers, and student performance. These indicators are currently most pertinent to educational institutions. Note: These indicators reflect a baseline set of indicators and will continue to evolve.

  • Energy

    The energy indicators have been designed to capture performance measures for products and services that seek to reduce energy consumption or conserve energy resources, such as energy efficient technologies or alternative energy producers. 

  • Environment

    The environment indicators have been designed to capture the performance of products and services that conserve natural resources, reduce threats to biodiversity, or reduce land- and air- based pollution. 

  • Financial Services

    The financial services indicators have been designed to capture both the financial and social performance of organizations that provide financial services to underserved populations. These indicators are pertinent to microfinance institutions and community development finance institutions. The indicators that are denoted as financial services indicators are aligned with reporting standards that have been developed by the Social Performance Task Force, the Microfinance Information Exchange, and others. 

  • Health

    The health indicators have been designed to capture some common performance areas for health care facilities such as occupancy, utilization, and wait time. These indicators are currently most pertinent to hospitals and clinics. 

  • Housing/Community Facilities

    The housing and community facilities indicators have been designed to capture some of the core aspects of the development of these projects, including the percent of affordable housing and the use of green-building practices. 

  • Water

    The water indicators have been designed to capture the performance of products and services that conserve water, improve the quality of water, or increase the availability of quality water, such as water treatment or conservation devices and water storage and delivery mechanisms. 

Your feedback is important!

The ultimate success of IRIS depends on feedback and suggestions from a great number of organizations. Comments provided through the website will be consolidated and indicators refined to reflect the consensus opinions voiced through the website dialogue. These refined definitions will be re-posted to the website to allow additional discussion and comment.