A new organisation to help the sector define impact measurement and agree how it should be carried out will be launched on 1 December.

The Social Impact Analysts Association has been set up after a two-year consultation with relevant groups, including voluntary organisations, social enterprises and foundations.

Claire Coulier, manager of the association, said that the idea for the organisation had come from the think tank New Philanthropy Capital.

The association is currently based at NPC’s offices and its trustees include Sue Wixley, head of communications at NPC, and Martin Brookes, its former chief executive. But Coulier said the SIAA was an independent organisation and would be relocating in the near future.

“There’s been a lot of debate about what impact measurement is and what charities should do to measure it – we’re hardly ever talking about the same thing,” she said.

“We’ll be bringing people together across different sectors and internationally to start a dialogue over impact measurement. We want to facilitate a conversation to reach more of an agreement over what it is and how it should be done.”

Coulier said 50 people had signed up as members of the organisation. Membership costs £30 and the body has three members of staff.

She said the SIAA had received seed funding until January 2013 from the German-based Bertelsmann Foundation and the Dutch Adessium Foundation.

Coulier would not say how much money it had received because she said the SIAA was looking for further funding.