Measuring social added value Italian experiences SEN - Social Entrepreneurship Network Cluster: Access to Finance 19-20 May 2016 - Warsaw Measuring social added value Italian experiences Floriana Nappini [e-mail: floriana.nappini@consorziosocialelight.it]

The Italian Social Balance Established in 2006 by a legislative decree (n. 155) Provides an obligation for social enterprises to produce and submit a social balance on a yearly basis Social Balance Guidelines Provide specific guidelines on: Structure of the Social Balance and minimum information required Obligations in terms of: Approval process Submission to social Enterprises Register

Structure of the Italian Social Balance The main chapters of the Social Balance Include: Introduction Methodology, timing of the analysis, list of activities and topics, communication plan etc. General Information on the Social Enterprises and on its Board of Directors Institutional members, board of directors, sector of activities, services offered etc. Structure, Governance and Administrators Social aims, membership characteristics, remuneration schemes, workforce composition etc. Aims and Activities Medium and long-term strategies, policies, activities and outcomes achieved; level of involvement of users and workers in decision-making processes; evaluation processes etc. Financial Situation and description of main Financial Aspects Analysis of the revenues and income of the enterprise, analysis of costs, funds, donations etc. Other Additional information

The Social Balance in the Lombardy Region Obligatory to all social cooperatives (not only social enterprises) Addition information required: Relations with Internal Stakeholders Relations with the Local Territory

Data on the utilisation of the Social Balance A survey carried out in 2011 by the IRIS Network shows that 73% of social enterprises (in the wider sense) elaborate a social balance 44% distribute the social balance among their workers (internal stakeholders) 6% distribute it to their own users 12% use their website to disseminate it

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Social Balance Globally homogeneous data Effective tool supporting the dialogue with external stakeholders and the engagement of internal ones Can promotes processes of change Weaknesses: Limited comparability of data Need to be coupled with effective communication strategy

The BFSE Tool Main objectives and characteristics of the tool The general goal of the model is to measure the social value produced by a social enterprise as a whole or by a specific project. The primary goal of the system is to give funding entities, particularly public bodies, a tool for evaluating the social value created by social enterprises. Ex-ante evaluation of social impact Simple and easy to use

The BFSE Tool The Measurement Tool elaborate consists of two main parts: The first part is designed to "measure" the social value produced by the social enterprise as a whole (based on Social accounting) The second part is intended for evaluating mainly single projects (based on SROI) Each part could be applied at different levels of depth analysis, based on the context (i.e. amount of the financial grant, size of the social enterprise, etc..)

The system takes into considerations the following dimensions: PART I- Evaluation of the overall social added value produced by the enterprise – The dimensions The system takes into considerations the following dimensions: Financial and economic soundness Democracy and governance Organizational functioning Professional resources Equal opportunities Socio-occupational integration Clients Networks and partners Project design and innovation abilities Environmental sustainability Services and interventions Each of the above dimensions is made up of further sub-dimensions.

Dimension: Socio-occupational integration PART I- Evaluation of the overall social added value produced by the enterprise – The sub-dimensions Dimension: Socio-occupational integration Sub-dimension: Effectiveness of job placements Sub-dimension: Quality of job placements INDICATOR DEFINITION Job placement cases of persons from disadvantaged groups Total job placements ________________________ Total workers Job placements drop-outs N. of drop-outs during the given year Total n. of placements in the year INDICATOR DEFINITION Placement tutor Has a tutor been identified for each job placement? (Yes/No) Skills evaluation Has a skills evaluatio plan been drafted? (Yes/No)

PART II – Evaluation of the social added value produced by single projects (SROI-Social Return On Investment) SROI is an analytic tool developed recently in the United States for measuring and accounting for the social, economic and environmental impact created by organisations. This approach aims to reveal the value of changes experienced by stakeholders whether those changes have been priced in market transaction or not and helps identify which changes are significant. It uses financial proxies to help reveal the value and as part of the process of deciding which changes are significant. It allows for the calculation of a benefit to cost ratio. A 3:1 ratio indicates that an investment of 1€ delivers 3€ of social value.

Testing the tool Part I – Evaluation of the social added value produced by the enterprise Identifying a system of weights Benchmarking Modifying the evaluation system if necessary Part II – Evaluation of the social added value produced by single projects SROI case-study on a real social inclusion project in Lombardy Comparative analysis

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