At Village Enterprise, our mission is to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship. For the first time, we are making the impact of that work available for purchase—as independently-verified, standardized assets called Verified Impact Assets (VIAs), listed on Common Good Marketplace. This page answers the questions we hear most often: what VIAs are, how they are calculated and verified, what buyers receive, and how this initiative relates to our broader donor community. Whether you are considering a purchase, are a current donor, or simply curious about this new model, we hope this gives you the clarity you need. To learn more about our work on VIAs, visit our Common Good Marketplace projects in Kenya and in Rwanda.
Frequently Asked Questions: Village Enterprise’s Verified Impact Assets
What is a Verified Impact Asset?
A Verified Impact Asset (VIA) is a standardized unit representing one additional year of well-being for one person, based on measured and independently-verified outcomes.
Here is how the model works in practice. Village Enterprise delivers its poverty graduation program to entrepreneurs in Kenya and Rwanda—providing training, seed capital, mentoring, and market linkages. The outcomes generated (e.g. increased income, higher savings, greater economic security) are then measured through rigorous baseline and endline surveys. An independent auditing firm, Moonshot Global, verifies that those results are real, additional, and causally linked to the program. Common Good Marketplace then certifies the verified outcomes and issues them as VIAs on its digital marketplace, where organizations can browse, evaluate, and purchase them.
This means that by the time a buyer purchases a VIA, the impact has already happened and been independently confirmed. There is no leap of faith—only documented, audited evidence of change in people’s lives.
VIAs are comparable across different interventions and geographies, making it possible for buyers to assess and compare impact in a consistent, meaningful way. They are transferable assets between Village Enterprise as the impact creator (the Supplier) and organizations seeking to fund verified impact (the Buyers). A 3:1 Social Return on Investment (SROI) means that for every $1 spent, $3 of independently-verified social value has been delivered to people living in extreme poverty.
What VIAs has Village Enterprise issued?
Village Enterprise has issued two types of VIAs across Kenya and Rwanda, both aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- VIA 10.1.1 — Reduced Household Inequality: Represents improvements in household consumption and income among people living in extreme poverty
- VIA 1.5.2 — Improved Climate Resilience: Represents improvements in household savings and financial stability, building resilience against economic and climate shocks
What outcomes are behind Village Enterprise’s VIAs?
The VIAs reflect significant, documented changes in the lives of program participants:
- Kenya: An average 57.5% increase in household consumption and a 74.1% increase in savings among program participants
- Rwanda: An average 34% increase in household income and a 253% increase in savings among program participants
These results were measured through rigorous baseline and endline surveys, then independently-verified before VIAs were issued.
How are Village Enterprise’s VIAs calculated?
The calculation follows a transparent, step-by-step process using an impact framework developed by Common Good Marketplace:
- Measure outcomes — Village Enterprise conducts baseline and endline surveys to measure actual changes in income, consumption, and savings among program participants
- Apply conservative discounts — Results are adjusted for attribution (what portion of the change is actually due to Village Enterprise’s program), counterfactual (what would have happened anyway without Village Enterprise), and duration (benefits are expected to last 5+ years, but only the verified period is counted)
- Convert to monetary social value — Improvements in people’s lives are expressed in economic terms using a Human Capital-based valuation method, with values adjusted for local purchasing power parity (PPP)
- Divide by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (PPP-adjusted) — Total social value is divided by the country’s GDP per capita to calculate the number of VIAs, standardizing the unit across different economic contexts
- Independent verification — Moonshot Global, an external impact auditing firm, confirms the data quality, calculations, and causal logic before Common Good Marketplace certifies and issues the VIAs
How are Village Enterprise’s VIAs priced?
VIA pricing reflects the value of outcomes delivered to beneficiaries—not what it costs Village Enterprise to run the program. Prices are set through negotiation between buyers and Village Enterprise, based on the desired Social Return on Investment (SROI).
- Kenya: Social value per VIA is $2,193. The suggested price is $731/VIA at a 3:1 SROI, with a breakeven cost of $439/VIA
- Rwanda: The suggested price is $1,020/VIA at a 3:1 SROI — meaning for every $100,000 invested, buyers receive approximately 100 VIAs and ~$306,000 in verified social value
What is SROI and why does it matter?
SROI (Social Return on Investment) shows how much verified impact you get for each dollar spent—the ratio between the price you pay for VIAs and the social value of the outcomes they represent. A 3:1 SROI means that for every $1 invested, $3 of independently-verified social value is delivered to people living in extreme poverty. This makes VIAs a highly efficient vehicle for organizations seeking measurable, accountable impact.
How were Village Enterprise’s VIAs verified?
Village Enterprise’s VIAs were independently-verified by Moonshot Global, a specialist impact auditing firm, and certified by Common Good Marketplace. This two-layer verification process ensures that the data, methodology, and causal logic behind every VIA meet rigorous international standards before any asset is issued or sold.
What happens after I submit a Purchase Offer?
Your Purchase Offer made via Common Good Marketplace website is shared with Village Enterprise, who reviews and confirms acceptance. Once confirmed, Common Good Marketplace coordinates payment processing, match funding allocation if applicable, and VIA transfer. Common Good Marketplace will issue a VIA Purchase Agreement specifying the key terms of your purchase—including the project, vintage, price, volume, and associated SDGs, governed by Common Good Marketplace’s Terms of Use. VIAs are issued and held on Common Good Marketplace’s balance sheet and then transferred to you as the buyer to be claimed and retired, giving you full and exclusive ownership of the verified impact you have purchased. You will receive documentation of your VIAs through your Marketplace Account and will be able to report the impact outcomes funded through your purchase via the Marketplace reporting dashboard.
Is my purchase tax-deductible?
VIA purchases may be structured by Common Good Marketplace in ways that provide tax benefits—for example, through Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) vehicles, depending on your organization’s status and jurisdiction. Please inform Common Good Marketplace if you require a tax deduction when submitting your VIA purchase offer, so they can discuss your specific situation and explore the options available to you.
How does this relate to Village Enterprise’s donor community?
The impact underlying Village Enterprise’s VIAs was created through our core program delivery, funded by the unrestricted general operating support of our donor community. Rather than treating those contributions as a one-time input, we are leveraging them to build an entirely new revenue stream, one that brings independently-verified impact to market and channels proceeds back into future program scale. Our donors are the pioneers who made this possible.
Why should I buy VIAs instead of donating directly to Village Enterprise?
Both are meaningful ways to support our mission. Purchasing VIAs offers something distinct: you are buying independently-verified, audited impact, with a clear and documented social return on investment. You know exactly what your funding has achieved, for whom, and how it was measured. Your purchase also directly enables Village Enterprise to scale as VIA revenues are reinvested into future program delivery. One thing to be transparent about: 7% of each VIA purchase goes to Common Good Marketplace to cover the costs of running the verification, certification, and marketplace infrastructure. This is what makes the rigor, accountability, and transparency of the VIA model possible—and what is helping to build a new global standard for how social impact is measured and valued.
Who stands behind Common Good Marketplace?
Common Good Marketplace is recognised by some of the world’s most respected institutions in global development and impact finance. Common Good Marketplace was featured in the World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship‘s landmark 2025 white paper, “Redefining Value: From Outcome-Based Funding to Tradeable Impact”, co-developed with SK Group and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which names Common Good Marketplace as a pioneering real-world example of tradeable impact in action. Common Good Marketplace also collaborated with the Schwab Foundation and the World Economic Forum on the report “Beyond Compliance: Embedding Impact through Innovative Finance,” in which Common Good Marketplace was named as a specialist and trusted advisor in innovative finance tools that deliver tangible social outcomes. Common Good Marketplace is trusted and supported by leading global organizations including UBS, SAP, and SK Group, and was named a Bronze Winner for Innovation in the Humanitarian Action & Services category at the 4th Annual Anthem Awards—recognised alongside organizations such as the Clinton Global Initiative and the World Food Programme. By purchasing Village Enterprise’s VIAs on the Common Good Marketplace, you are joining one of the most credible, rigorous, and globally recognised platforms in the emerging social outcomes market.
Do you have questions about Village Enterprise VIAs? Contact Caroline Bernadi, Head of Innovative Financing, at carolineb@villageenterprise.org.
Ready to purchase a Village Enterprise VIA? Visit Common Good Marketplace for our projects in Kenya and in Rwanda.