Why every SIA number now has a definition
Funders, partners and participants should see the same figure everywhere. That is why SIA now keeps one source of truth for every headline number.
A website, a funding proposal and an annual report should never disagree about how many people an organisation has reached. When they do, trust erodes, however good the work is.
It happens more easily than it sounds. A figure is counted one way for a donor report, another way for a brochure and rounded up for a speech. Each number may be honest on its own terms. Side by side, they look careless, and a funder who notices starts to wonder what else is loose.
SIA now stores every headline figure once, with four things attached: the value, a plain-language definition, the source, and an “as of” date. The figures are updated each quarter, and every page, proposal and report uses the same number.
What a definition looks like
Take “people reached”. On the Live Impact Dashboard it means people who took part in at least one SIA programme or event since SIA was founded. The published figure is 73,800+.
“Microentrepreneurs trained” (3,500+) counts microentrepreneurs who completed an SIA business training course; signing up is not enough. “Enterprises incubated” (100+) counts enterprises that completed an SIA incubation or acceleration programme. “Incubation hubs” counts physical hubs run by SIA or with a host university, which today means two: Quetta and Loralai.
Each definition answers the question a careful reader asks first: who exactly is in this number? Once that is written down, the number stays the same whoever is asking.
The four levels SIA measures
Headline figures are the top layer. Under the Strategic Plan 2026–2031, SIA measures results at four levels, from the individual to the wider system:
- Learning: course completion, skill gain and behaviour change at six months
- Enterprise: survival, revenue growth and jobs supported
- Capital & ecosystem: capital mobilised, SENPak members and export revenue
- Systems: policies influenced and replications of the SIA Method
Learning results show whether training changed what people can do. Enterprise results show whether businesses survive and grow. Capital and ecosystem results show whether money and networks reach the enterprises that need them. Systems results show whether wider rules and practices change, for example when another organisation adopts the SIA Method.
Why the date matters
A number without a date invites the wrong comparison. Every figure on the dashboard shows when it was last checked, and the figures are reviewed every quarter. When a figure is updated, it changes everywhere at once: on the website, in the next proposal and in the next report.
What is not published yet
Some results SIA wants to report do not have an agreed definition or a reliable source yet. Breakdowns by year, pillar, district, gender, funder and programme, for example, will appear when the MEL database is connected in Phase 2. Until then every figure on the site is a published total, and anything without an agreed definition stays off the site until it has one.
How to use the numbers
If you write about SIA, name SIA as a partner in a proposal, or want to check a claim, use the figures on the dashboard and quote their “as of” date. How we measure explains the four levels and where each figure comes from. If something looks wrong, tell the team through the contact page. A correction helps everyone who relies on the same number.
The Strategic Plan also commits SIA to an annual impact report from Year 1, independent mid-term and end-line evaluations, and audited accounts. They will use the same definitions, and they will be listed on Reports as they are published.
