Client Individuals: Historically Marginalized (PI4237)

This metric is intended to capture the number of unique clients who belong to a group historically marginalized on the basis of race and/or ethnicity and who received the organization’s products or services during the reporting period. It is not a measure of foot traffic, nor is it intended to capture the number of consumer transactions. For example, a customer who makes two purchases during a period should be counted only once. Organizations wishing to report on total client transactions should refer to Client Transactions (PI5184).

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.

The categorization of historically marginalized groups varies with location and context. With no internationally agreed-upon definition as to which groups constitute historically marginalized, if well-established local policies exist (as in South Africa, with the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment [BBBEE] definition, or in India, based on backward caste), organizations should refer to these local guidelines to identify groups historically marginalized on the basis of race and/or ethnicity. Otherwise, and wherever appropriate, organizations should provide additional detail regarding their tailored methodology for defining these groups.

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 may help describe 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.