Download - Measuring Social Value
Workshop at ‘Journey into the Unknown’Exeter, June 23rd 2010
Measuring Social ValueDonald RitchieStrategy and Impact AdvisorNational Council for Voluntary Organisations
Workshop outline
Discussing value
Introducing value and full value
Introducing SROI (one way to plan, improve and communicate value)
Q&A
Exercise
So, what is ‘value’ … ?
So, what is ‘value’ … ?• Work in pairs with
someone you don’t know• Discuss what ‘value’
means in our sector• Summarise the value of
your own organisation
Value = the sum of all the specific impacts and experiences created by your organisation or project
Full Value
• A broader way of thinking
• Gives a fuller ‘palette’ of your value … to paint more varied pictures for different audiences
• Unlike traditional outcomes approaches, it includes:
– beneficiaries and other stakeholders
– impact and experience
The Full Value Approach
Beneficiaries Who is affected Others
Exp
erie
nce
Val
ue T
ype
I
mp
act
PrimaryImpacts
SecondaryImpacts
PrimaryExperiences
SecondaryExperiences
For more on Full Value…
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for it
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for itCreate it
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for itCreate itImprove it
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for itCreate itImprove itCommunicate it
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for itCreate itImprove itCommunicate itLive and breathe it
What you can ‘do’ with ValueAim for itCreate itImprove itCommunicate itLive and breathe it
You may need evidence to do these
You may need to measure your social value
But … do avoid ‘just-in-case’ evidence collection
What is Social Return on Investment?
SROI = a framework to measure & account a project’s value
Example ‘Result’: Fab Pad
Run by Impact Arts, Fab Pad supports young homeless people to sustain new tenancies. The SROI evaluation carried out on Fab Pad revealed that for every £1 invested by the government in support, £8.38 of social return was derived in reduced health care costs, reduced welfare benefits expenditure and reduced costs of repeat homelessness.
But … its not just about the ratio – it’s a story of change
About Social Return on Investment
Lots in common with ‘regular’ outcomes approaches, CBA, and social accounting
You still set outcomes and indicators, and collect data
But in particular SROI:
• has a strong emphasis on stakeholder involvement• includes all costs and all outcomes • addresses causality • uses financial proxies
Seven principles of SROI
1. Involve stakeholders
2. Understand what changes
3. Value the things that matter
4. Only include what is material
5. Do not over claim
6. Be transparent
7. Verify the result
Six stages of an SROI process
1. Establish scope and identify key stakeholders
2. Map outcomes
3. Evidence outcomes and give them a value
4. Establish impact
5. Calculate the SROI
6. Report, use and embed
Stage 3: evidencing outcomes
Stakeholder Outcome Indicator Data collection
Unemployed person
Gets & maintains work
Whether in work after 12 months
Annual postal survey plus follow up
Local authority
Increase in recycling
Amount of waste going to landfill
LA monitoring of amount of waste
Participant with health problems
Improved health
•Number of visits to GP
•Extent of health improvement (self-reported)
•Frequency of exercise
Six month review with keyworker
Disabled young person
Reduced isolation
Frequency of social contact with friends
Teachers’ report
Stage 3: giving outcomes a value
Outcome Indicator Possible proxies
Gets & maintains work
Whether in work after 12 months
Net wages
Increase in recycling
Amount of waste going to landfill
Cost of landfill charges
Improved physical health
•Number of visits to GP
•Extent of health improvement (self-reported)
•Frequency of exercise
•Cost of private GP consultation
•Cost of health insurance
•Cost of gym membership
Reduced isolation
Frequency of social contact with friends
•Cost of membership of social club
•% of income spent on leisure
Using financial proxies enables you to:
• reveal ‘hidden’ or ‘ignored’ value
• compare value of different services, to improve or stop them
• add up full value
• compare value over time
A final thought about measuring value
• Be clear about why you are doing it, what you need the information for
Thanks!
Questions?
Exercise: rethinking your value
• Back in your pairs
• Discuss two things:
1. What value does your organisation create that people, externally or internally, undervalue?
2. What approach to measuring value might be helpful to your organisation?
• Take 15 minutes each to discuss