Impact tracking for philanthropies & non-profits

Measure what matters to your mission

Success shouldn’t be measured by clicks and impressions alone. True impact is reflected in how people perceive your work, how much they trust your organization, and whether your message is resonating. We design tools to track these indicators over time, giving you the clarity to adapt and the credibility to demonstrate real progress.

Track shifts in perception and trust

Measure how awareness, credibility, and perceived mission effectiveness evolve before, during, and after key initiatives.

Evaluate narrative performance

Understand how your messages are landing with core audiences, and whether they’re shifting mindsets.

Support your field with actionable insights

Offer your coalition a practical way to ask and answer targeted questions so they can refine their strategies and strengthen their local impact.

The Gradient difference

Define the decision
We begin by identifying the perception shifts that matter most for your mission, whether it’s growing awareness, strengthening brand equities, or tracking narrative momentum across communities.
Design targeted research
Our surveys and experiments are crafted to go beyond surface metrics. We measure how people feel about your organization, your messages, and your mission over time, so you can see the story behind the numbers.
Analyze & interpret
Our team of data scientists and PhD researchers immerse ourselves in the numbers. Beyond just the “what,” we pinpoint the “why”. We interpret the data in context by identifying patterns, highlighting risks, and surfacing signals that traditional media monitoring might miss entirely.
Activate insights
We deliver reporting that’s actually useful: clear, strategic insights that help you improve communications, support grantee adaptation, and show funders the full picture of your progress.

Survey methodologies that drive results

Issue & Impact Tracking

We track how the broader public narrative around your issue evolves over time so you can see whether your efforts are contributing to meaningful shifts in awareness, salience, and perceived importance. The approach seeks to:

Contextualizes your issue within the broader social or political landscape.
Tracks narrative momentum to determine whether your framing is gaining ground.
Measures the long-term effectiveness of messaging strategies and advocacy campaigns.

Brand Tracking

We identify the brand attributes most associated with success in your (e.g., trust, credibility, mission alignment, etc.) issue area. Then we monitor how those perceptions change across time and audience segments. The method:

Surfaces the brand equities most linked to your organization’s core outcomes.
Tracks these high-leverage brand attributes at regular intervals.
Reveals which aspects of your identity are resonating and where there’s room to strengthen perception.

Private Opinion Tracking

Using an indirect method of revealing private opinions on sensitive topics, we uncover what people believe privately, even when social pressures discourage honest expression in traditional surveys. By tracking private, rather than just public, opinion, this form of opinion tracking:

Distinguishes between public and private beliefs to uncover hidden attitudes.
Helps determine whether observed shifts in public opinion are deep and durable or simply driven by social desirability.
Identifies where silent support or resistance may be under- or over-estimated in traditional polling.