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What is the Common Impact Data Standard?

The Common Impact Data Standard (CIDS) is a standardized way to represent a social purpose organization’s impact model and the effects of their work on stakeholders and the environment. Its primary purpose is to create a shared data model with which to capture, export, and import data about impact measurement.

The standard enables software interoperability by providing detailed specifications for structuring impact data, allowing data to move seamlessly between aligned applications without additional mapping.

A core principle is that organizations can describe their work using the language and models they use to describe themselves, rather than being forced into a single prescribed framework. Impact is represented through the concepts organizations already work with — Programs, Services, Activities, Inputs, Outputs, Indicators, and IndicatorReports.

Technical foundation

Section titled “Technical foundation”
  • The standard is expressed using JSON-LD formatting.
  • It recommends specific URI formats for developers implementing the standard.
  • It is built on a set of foundational ontologies that give its classes and properties precise, shared meaning across systems.