The Plan A Impact Framework is the methodology behind every Keystone engagement — owned 50/50 by SENIC and Diesis, validated annually by RAISE Alliance university partners, ESRS-aligned and IRIS+ compatible. Below is a public summary of how it works.
Most impact reporting is bespoke. Each organisation invents its own indicators, picks its own evidence threshold, and reports against itself year on year. That's fine for storytelling — and useless when a foundation, bank or CSRD-bound corporate needs to compare a portfolio of 30 organisations against the same yardstick.
The Plan A Impact Framework standardises the questions, the maturity scale, and the peer-benchmark dataset. It still respects the diversity of mission-driven work — sector overlays handle that — but the structural readiness layer is identical across every engagement.
Each pillar carries 30+ sub-indicators in the full Diagnostic. The Snapshot tests a deliberate sample of ten across four (Delivery and Governance combined for speed).
Not every mission-led organisation has a written strategy. Of those that do, most haven't tested it against a downside scenario. The Strategy pillar measures clarity of direction, the diversification of revenue, the seniority of governance, and the discipline of scenario thinking.
The most common gap, especially in Segment A. Many organisations track outputs (people served, hours delivered) but not outcomes (behaviour change) or impact (system-level change). The Impact pillar measures the maturity of the measurement framework, the data systems, the cadence, and the level of external validation.
Capital flows where it can be assessed. The Funding pillar measures the sophistication of the financial model, the existence of fund-readiness materials (deck, data room, narrative), and the depth of the warm-pipeline relationships. It's the pillar most directly improved by the Sprint product.
Funders and buyers screen for delivery risk before they screen for product. The Delivery pillar measures team and succession resilience, documented operating playbooks, the level of key-person risk, and the genuine capacity headroom available to take on more.
The least visible pillar from the outside, often the most decisive in the room. Governance measures the composition and skill mix of the board, the meeting cadence and quality of minutes, the presence of independent oversight, and the disclosure standards the organisation holds itself to.
Every indicator in the framework is scored on the same 0–3 maturity scale. The level descriptions are concrete — they describe an observable state, not a self-report. Two assessors should produce the same score from the same evidence.
The capability does not yet exist or is informal.
The capability exists but is inconsistent or partial.
Documented, in regular use, broadly trusted by stakeholders.
Externally validated, audit-ready, embedded in governance.
A pillar score is the average of its indicators expressed on a 0–100 scale. The overall Keystone Readiness Score is the equally-weighted average of the five pillar scores. The Snapshot reports four pillars (Delivery + Governance combined) for speed; the full Diagnostic reports all five separately.
The Plan A Impact Framework is reviewed annually by RAISE Alliance university partners. The review covers methodology updates, the anonymised benchmark dataset, and any sector overlays added in the previous twelve months. The peer-review minutes are published alongside the annual benchmark report.
The framework is owned 50/50 by SENIC and Diesis under the co-brand agreement. Neither party can unilaterally modify or licence it.
Every consented engagement contributes anonymised indicator data to the benchmark. The dataset is curated by SENIC and audited by RAISE.
Each framework version is dated and notarised. Clients are scored against the version current at engagement start.
The Readiness Snapshot is a free, ten-question taste of the methodology. You'll get a personalised radar chart, peer percentile, and a recommended next step. Then walk the full pathway in the journey.