Measuring The Difference Social Return On Investment Adrian Dewhurst

OUTLINE FOR TODAY Overview of SROI Principles & Process Impact Mapping Stakeholders, outcomes & indicators Financial Proxies Calculating SROI

SROI: what it is A framework for measuring and accounting for value (rather than money) A cost benefit analysis tool An outcomes measurement process A story of change

SROI: what it isn’t! A kite mark A fixed process A guarantee of business

Misconceptions 1)SROI is all about the money 2)SROI is always time consuming, expensive and impossible without external support 3)Organisations or projects can be compared using the SROI ratio 4)SROI is just for the 3 rd sector

SROI – The Process Principles of SROI Involve stakeholders Understand what changes Value the things that matter Only include what is material Do not overclaim Be transparent Verify the result

What funders want For their INPUTS Move away from OUTPUTS Move to OUTCOMES Your IMPACT – the CHANGE you have brought about

Establish Scope Forecast OR Evaluation Organisation or Service (Project)

Establish Scope Considerations Purpose of your SROI Who / What is it for? Why – Background to your decision Who will undertake the SROI? Focus? Timescales for analysis

Stakeholders Beneficiaries Families Volunteers Staff Partner Organisations Other service providers Funders Better health family relationship Skills Job Satisfaction Improved service delivery Less pressure on services Achieving their aims Intended/ Unintended Changes

Outcomes are the changes brought about by the activities your organisation delivers It's about the effectiveness of what you do Outcomes can be experienced by a range of different stakeholders: the individuals you work with their family/support network communities the environment public sector bodies Outcomes

Exercise A Stakeholder –An input –An output –An Outcome –Impact – a value?

What is an Outcome? Developing Outcomes requires the “language of change” –The individual experiences improved health and well- being –The family experiences reduced stress –The community experiences fewer incidents of ASB –The environment benefits from restored wildlife habitats –The public sector are better informed of user needs

Easy to Measure outcomes Difficult to measure outcomes Material to stakeholder Can measure Find ways to measure Not material Avoid temptation to measure Don’t measure

StakeholderOutcomeIndicator Person with mental Health problem Improvement in mental health Amount of time spent socialising Extent to which participants engage in new activities Level of use of mental health services Local community Improved access to local services Take-up of those services, and by whom Person with physical Health problem Improved physical health Number of visits to GP surgery Extent of improvements in health (self-reported) How often they exercise Woman offenderImproved family relationship Child continues living in the family home

FINANCIAL PROXIES Identify what it would cost to achieve a similar outcome e.g increased confidence = cost of confidence training

StakeholderOutcomeIndicatorPossible Proxies Person with mental Health problem Improvement in mental health Amount of time spent socialising Extent to which participants engage in new activities Level of use of mental health services Cost of membership of a social club/network Percentage of income normally spent on leisure, Cost of counselling sessions Local community Improved access to local services Take-up of those services, and by whom Savings in time and travel costs of being able to access services locally Person with physical Health problem Improved physical health Number of visits to GP surgery Extent of improvements in health (self-reported) How often they exercise Cost of visiting private GP clinic Cost of health insurance Cost of gym membership Woman offenderImproved family relationship Child continues living in the family home Amount that parents spend on their children annually Value of time spent with children Cost of childcare

Where do we find Proxies? VOIS Database – SROI Network Unit costs of health & social care - PSSRU Family Spending Survey – office for national statistics Research

CALCULATING SROI “Reality Check” Deadweight - would the outcomes have happened any way? If so what %? Displacement – what activity did you displace? Attribution – what % of the outcome did others contribute to? Drop off – is the outcome worth the same in future years? By what % does it drop each year?

Impact Calculation Impact = Outcomes MINUS Attribution, displacement and deadweight

SROI Calculation Total Impact = SROI Total Input

SROI Network Thesroinetwork.org VOIS Database

THANK YOU FOR TAKING PART Contact Adrian Dewhurst