Number of unique client individuals who received free products/services from the organization during the reporting period.
Organizations should footnote all assumptions used, including source of data. See usage guidance for further information.
This metric is intended to capture all unique clients who received products or services provided by the organization for which it did not request payment and for which it does not expect reimbursement. If the organization expects or receives payment from someone other than the client, these client individuals should be reported against Client Individuals: No Direct Payment (PI1807). This metric is intended to measure clients receiving free products/services that are core to the operations of the organization providing them; for example, some healthcare clinics provide free health check-ups.
Organizations should include the number of unique client individuals who received free products or services, regardless of whether or not these same individuals also paid the organization for certain products or services during the reporting period.
This metric is intended to capture the unique number of specific individuals served. Organizations should not use any household multipliers when reporting against this metric. If organizations consider entire households to be the customer/client, they can report against Client Households: Total (PI7954) and its associated submetrics.
Many organizations may not be able to report on the number of clients using direct data. For example, organizations that sell solar lanterns through a series of local network distributors might estimate the number of client individuals reached based on the number of units sold. Organizations should footnote details on how and why these assumptions were made.
For healthcare providers, “client individuals” refers to patients. For housing providers, “client individuals” refers to residents or tenants.
This metric is multi-dimensional with regard to the five dimensions of impact. It may help describe the WHO dimension when the stakeholder group represented by the metric is the stakeholder group targeted by the investment or organization. It may also help measure the HOW MUCH Scale dimension, which helps estimate the number of the targeted stakeholders experiencing the outcome. For more on the alignment of IRIS metrics to the five dimensions of impact, see IRIS+ and the Five Dimensions of Impact (https://iris.thegiin.org/document/iris-and-the-five-dimensions/). No single metric is sufficient to understand an impact; rather, metrics are selected as a set across all dimensions of impact. When possible, the selection of metrics to measure and describe the five dimensions should be based on best practice and evidence.
This is a submetric of Client Individuals: Total (PI4060), which has 17 other related submetrics.
Metrics identified as "cross-category" are those that are relevant to any IRIS+ Impact Category or Impact Theme (i.e., these metrics are not specific to any particular industry/category or theme).
June 2022 - IRIS v5.3 Released (current version)
Immaterial change. Minor revision to usage guidance for clarity.
January 2020 - IRIS v5.1 Released
No change.
May 2019 - IRIS v5.0 Released
No change.
March 2016 - IRIS v4.0 Released
Immaterial change. Minor revision to definition language for clarity.
March 2014 - IRIS v3.0 Released
Material change. metric name and definition language modified to provide clarity based on best practices from the Health Working Group.
November 2011 - IRIS v2.2 Released
Material change. Client Individuals Receiving Free Services (PI9622) replaced Client Receiving Free Services (PI7563). Metric modified to maintain consistency with changes to IRIS structure.
February 2011 - IRIS v2.1 Released
No change.
September 2010 - IRIS v2.0 Released
New metric. Client Receiving Free Services (PI7563) was developed via the IRIS Taxonomy Development Group.
IRIS Metrics Work Better in Sets
To use IRIS metrics—and the resulting data—to understand impact performance, IRIS metrics should be used and analyzed in generally accepted sets and according to well-defined objectives. IRIS+ gives you access to generally accepted Core Metrics Sets aligned to common Impact Themes and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).