“Catalyze emotional wellbeing in a digital age so that everyone can be inspired to create a life they love.”
This is what the Pinterest Impact Fund (PIF) stands for. And since 2021, they’ve mobilized resources and partnerships, investing over $40 million (as of May 2026) in grants to over 100 organizations worldwide, many of which were focused on improving Emotional Wellbeing.
When Raya Cooper Impact Consulting first started to work with Pinterest in 2024, the team needed three things: an impact framework that was easy to understand, results that were easy to communicate, and a measurement plan that was easy to repeat. But it was also clear that the Pinterest Impact Fund operates in a unique way.
First, they emphasize partnership and trust in their funding model. And it’s more than just words – it shows up in how they work and carry their commitments. Second, they have broad reach, working with a wide range of partners from direct service organizations to technology solutions, arts programming, and research – all focused on building wellbeing online and offline. While the goals are shared, each partner has its own unique role to play. The Pinterest Team approach required a unique solution to Impact Measurement:
How do we build an Impact Measurement approach for a funder that emphasizes trust and partnership?
How can the Pinterest Team team understand and tell a coherent story of the whole portfolio, while honoring the unique approach of each of their Partners?
One portfolio, one story, many different ways of creating impact
The Pinterest Team had already been hard at work developing a framework of strategies and objectives, incorporating stakeholder feedback and business priorities. We began our work not by creating something new but by helping them refine their existing impact strategy, and using that as a basis to articulate their Theory of Change and Impact Thesis. The resulting impact framework needed to do three things:
Understand and communicate shared impact goals across a diverse portfolio without pretending every partner was doing the same thing.
Easily communicate and resonate the goals and strategy with internal Pinterest leaders and staff.
Fast and simple enough for the team to run regularly without impacting their day-to-day workload.
What we built together was a fit-for-purpose Impact Measurement approach. We formalized the existing Pinterest Impact Team strategy into a simple, clear Theory of Change, creating shared outcomes and coherence across the portfolio. The framework was connected to learning questions, grantee reporting questionnaires and a cadence for data collection, which we tested with partners before deploying. The data gathered from grantee reporting gives essential insights into progress on the portfolio goals, allowing the Pinterest Impact Fund to tell its story internally and externally.
Our goal was not just to support data gathering, but learning and sense-making as well. We asked the Pinterest Team to create questions they wanted to answer every step of the way, from outputs to long-term outcomes. The goal was to ensure results would ultimately match what they needed for communication purposes and to inform future strategy and decision-making. Some of these questions were developed into outputs and outcomes; others were elevated as learning questions, with an annual cadence to address them. We wanted the Pinterest Team to see a clear connection between their questions, strategies, data collection, and final results.
As we wrestled with the considerations and unique conditions of the Pinterest Impact Fund, solving these practical design challenges clarified three principles for us about portfolio measurement.
Portfolio measurement can lead with harmony without forcing uniformity
Creating a simple impact framework was challenging because the Pinterest Team funds different types of organizations. The strategies, outcome measures, and measurement approach needed to be relevant for the different Partner types, anchored to shared goals without forcing false uniformity.
The goal was not to make every organization report the same exact thing – we needed to find the level at which data can tell a coherent portfolio story without flattening meaningful differences.
To address this, we made partner outcome reporting simultaneously flexible and anchored to a set of discrete outcomes. With a goal of catalyzing wellbeing, partners were asked to report on improvements to aspects of Emotional Wellbeing (i.e. behavior, connectedness, emotions), but they were allowed to do so in a way that reflected their own unique approach. They were asked to share their approach and definitions to support analysis. Prior to launch, we stress-tested this approach, incorporating partner feedback, to make sure it was appropriate for all, regardless of organizational structure or approach. This also had the added benefit that partners did not have to conduct any additional data collection, but were able to use what they already measured in their reporting. Pinterest can now see common patterns across the portfolio without requiring partners to change how they understand or measure their own work.
Design for capacity realities on both sides of the funding relationship
We began our work by distilling what Pinterest already had to create a simple Theory of Change that would realistically fit the team’s capacity and meet its need for communication with stakeholders. It has been our experience that simple Theories of Change are more likely to be used by clients than complicated ones. While a complicated Theory of Change may feel like it more accurately displays the complex dynamism of social impact, we have found that these complex frameworks become nearly unintelligible and cannot be easily used for prioritization, communication, or measurement. Simple doesn’t have to mean simplistic.
The next step was to develop a measurement plan to capture the necessary data at an appropriate cadence. The goal was to focus on measurement that was practical and realistic for partner reporting capacity and for the team to carry forward. We did this by setting up a data collection cadence based on the Impact Fund’s existing grant cycles, using a blend of semi-structured conversations and survey-based reporting, and by seeking input from Partners and the team along the way.
We also wanted to consider the capacity of partners. Pinterest is just one of many funders supporting their work and requiring reporting. Our approach (as described above) allowed them to leverage what they already were measuring. It also emphasized feasibility by including only the most essential questions, using straightforward wording, and leveraging conversations to minimize written reporting. The aim was to make reporting manageable for both partners and Pinterest.
Evaluation should reinforce the relationship you are trying to build
Measurement with community partners can feel risky to many funders. At best, it can reinforce partnership and trust; at worst it can undermine the relationship with extractive reporting requirements. Pinterest refers to grantees as partners and it was essential to build an approach that reflected that philosophy. The inclusion of partner voice was a critical component of both the Theory of Change, the measurement plan, and partner reporting itself. Not only was input solicited from partners to develop reporting approaches and validate outcomes, partners are currently asked about their experience with reporting specifically and working with Pinterest, in general. This is important because better relationships with partners, leads to better data and insights. If partners trust the process, see their perspectives reflected in it, and aren’t subjected to extractive tasks (i.e. excessive time spent collecting data points that are irrelevant to them), then Pinterest is more likely to get candid and useful information.
Today, the Pinterest team has an approach to impact they can understand, communicate, and defend.Pinterest has also been armed with information to guide future funding strategy, ensuring they focus their resources on what is most important to them. Critically, their work continues to center the experience and expertise of their partners, working in tandem towards shared goals.
For funders, strong portfolio measurement is not about forcing every partner into the same framework; it is about creating enough consistency to learn across a portfolio, enough flexibility to reflect how change actually happens, and enough trust for the process to be useful to everyone involved.
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