Airbnb.org is an independent and publicly-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that leverages Airbnb, Inc.’s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.org’s charitable purpose. Airbnb.org partners with Airbnb hosts and the broader community to offer housing in emergencies, including natural disasters and displacement due to conflict.

Sorenson Impact Institute partnered with Airbnb.org to measure and communicate Airbnb.org’s social impact. Airbnb.org’s initiatives, partnerships and results must be aggregated in support of the mission and vision of the organization, measured to report the social impact at a global level, and shared with key stakeholders in order to expand the realm of impact possibilities that the organization can have. The project involved developing an IMM strategy, including the identification of appropriate output and outcome metrics in alignment with the organization’s internal program and product strategy and overall mission, and the development of an impact report.

We worked with Airbnb.org to develop an impact thesis which lays out the social challenge that Airbnb.org is addressing, how Airbnb.org’s approach distinguishes itself from other emergency housing providers, the short- and long-term impacts of Airbnb.org’s services for their three key stakeholders (guests, hosts, and communities), and potential risks to achieving the anticipated impacts with proposed risk mitigants. The impact thesis was used to refine Airbnb.org’s existing theory of change. In collaboration with the Airbnb.org team and with input from internal stakeholders, we identified a short list of impact metrics that are feasible to collect and are key to monitoring, communicating, and learning about Airbnb.org’s impact. Part of the engagement included developing an approach to collecting impact metrics that are currently not being collected by Airbnb.org without being a burden or retraumatizing guests and hosts. The impact report, the first for Airbnb.org, was completed and published online in December 2023.