International Housing Partnership Annual Conference 2012 – Vancouver Rob Young, Chief Executive, Helena Partnerships, UK Rob Webber, Acting Chief Executive, Spectrum, UK Deb Allen, Compass, Australia Jo-anne Poirier, Ottawa Community Housing Group, Canada ?, ?, US Quantifying Impact Social Return on Investment (SROI)

Outline Purpose of session Session agenda/running order Introduction

Agenda/Running Order 8.30amIntroductionRob Young (Helena Partnerships, UK) 8.35amA perspective from the 4 countries, Panel Deb Allen (Compass, Australia) Jo-Anne Poirier (Ottawa Community Housing, Canada) ? (?, USA) Rob Webber (Spectrum, UK) 8.55amWhere are we at?Rob Young (Helena Partnerships, UK) 9.00amWhere are we going?Round the table discussions by conference participants 9.30amOpen discussion and questions to the panel based on priorities raised in round table discussions 9.55amRound up and conclusionsRob Young (Helena Partnerships, UK) 10.00amClose

Introduction Relevance of SROI? Crowded market place! No standard methods/metrics!!!

Creating Value in Outcomes: The Compass Journey Case Studies for Social Return on Investment (SROI) Deb Allen, Compass, Australia

Introduction Compass – more than a housing service provider GROW program Status of SROI & Australian Community Housing Sector Desire to track $value across all levels of service and impact areas

Identifying the Projects Smaller, targeted projects = clear baseline and measurement of outcomes 2 different ‘products’ allow for comparison on effectiveness of $spend Compare inputs/outputs/outcomes Qualitative and quantitative data available Evaluation retrospective : based on actual outcomes

2 Projects This Way Home Objective of the Project: –To establish a new collaborative supported service model that seeks to address the needs of homeless and at risk of homelessness people within Newcastle KBT Hub Objective of the Project: –To facilitate greater resident ownership, participation and community engagement and develop a sustainable resident volunteer program to support residents in the KBT Neighbourhood

Helena Partnerships gathered feedback from members of IHP on the use of SROI analysis within their organisations. SROI Survey

Respondents

Key findings

SROI: Breakdown by Country

Observations (positive) Corporate social responsibility vs project evaluation? Triple bottom line Proxies and social value KISS! Communication/conversation tool Manage reputation

Observations (negative) Resource intensive Lack of consistency 20% feel SROI unimportant 40% not planning to use in near future

Although majority were not using SROI analysis, feedback showed that it remains a key priority for housing providers. Those currently using SROI felt it had led to a positive business transformation within their organisation. 70% interested in sharing experiences/information. 80% keen on a standard model for IHP use. Conclusions

Prompt Questions 1.Priority: Is SROI felt to have merit? Will it achieve business transformation? Is it a priority for IHP? 2.Understanding: What should we do to make the concept understood within IHP? What are the lessons learned? The successes? The negatives? How has it helped prioritisation of projects and resources? 3.Application: At what level should SROI be pitched? Post evaluation of individual projects? Pre forecasting at high level corporate objective level? Focus on local economic benefits? 4.Role of IHP: What support do members of IHP require? Do you feel you have the right skills? How can IHP provide this? What role can the website, webinar etc. play?