Matatihi
∗  Tools N°18 — Free tool Economic footprint

The Impact Calculator.

A free economic impact calculator for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Estimate the economic footprint of a programme, organisation or investment — the output, GDP and employment it supports across the economy. Use it to get oriented quickly, then treat the result as a prompt for better questions about the outcomes that actually matter.

Open the Impact Calculator

01 What it estimates

Economic footprint, in minutes

The economic impact calculator uses input-output multipliers to estimate how spending by an organisation or programme circulates through the New Zealand economy. From a few figures it returns an indicative view of:

  • total economic output supported (direct, indirect and induced)
  • contribution to GDP / value added
  • employment supported, in full-time-equivalent terms

It is a fast, free way to size the economic activity connected to your work — useful for a funding narrative, a board paper, or an early scoping conversation.

Open the calculator at impact.matatihi.nz →

02 What it does not do

Footprint is not the same as outcomes

An economic footprint describes activity, not outcomes. It tells you how money moves; it does not tell you what changed for people, whānau, communities or te taiao, or how much of that change is fairly yours.

For that you need impact assessment: defining the outcomes, evidencing them, and — where it helps — valuing them through Social Return on Investment (SROI). We report economic footprint alongside, never inside, an SROI ratio, so the two are never confused.

If you are measuring social impact to secure or justify funding, start with our impact assessment and SROI work rather than the calculator alone.

03 Where to go next
Impact assessment & SROI

Define, evidence and report the social value your work creates — the service behind the numbers.

Service The full SROI guide

The complete step-by-step Social Return on Investment method, free to use.

Guide · Free A worked SROI example

See how a defensible SROI is built, with assumptions visible.

Worked example
One method, many proofs This is one of the proofs Whakapapa Economics produces — SROI, cost–benefit and value for money, from one method.

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Want the outcomes behind the numbers?

The economic footprint is a start. If you need to measure and prove the social value your work creates, the first kōrero is free.

Get in touch