Social Impact Measurement What gets measured gets managed SEUK, What We Do: We do research, provide information and tools, share knowledge, build networks, deliver support + training, raise awareness and campaign to create a business environment where social enterprises can thrive. 1 Social Impact Measurement What gets measured gets managed Benjamin Brown Senior Policy Research Officer Social Enterprise UK

What is Social Impact measurement? “The measurement of the impact of changes intentionally achieved in the lives of beneficiaries as a result of services and products, delivered by an organisation, for which the beneficiary does not give full economic value” ……..

What is Social Impact measurement? Measurement across the “triple bottom line” The economy The environment People

Why measure social impact? “In God we trust, all others must bring data” “What gets measured, gets managed” Edward Deming Peter Drucker

Why measure social impact? Improve Prove Proving which is about demonstrating that change is actually taking place. Improving which refers to a continuous process of learning and growth, to support the social mission and also to sustain and grow the business.

Why measure social impact? To tell the whole story of the companies performance To inform the strategic development of the enterprise To gain competitive advantage in a market where cutting costs constantly won’t work To build social capital with clients To build reputation, and attract partners and investors To inspire staff To know if you’re actually making a difference! Measuring “making a difference” Providing evidence that your organisation is doing something that provides a real and tangible benefit to other people or the environment

Every organisation – no matter how small or new – can measure its social impact 7

What does it look like? No universal standards. PM Training, Staffordshire What does it look like? No universal standards. But lots of common ground: A clear story and theory of change Beneficiary perspective Evidence of outcomes Demonstration of change over time Linking learning back to organisation A clearly enunciated story, with its theory of change, but with presentation adapted to the story it is trying to tell A clarity of beneficiary perspective: who, how and how it looks from their viewpoint Evidence of outcomes or causal link between outputs and outcomes with an intention to collect outcome data over time  Demonstration of that change over time, from the identified beneficiaries’ perspectives Linking learning based on analysis back to organisational learning

Theory of change The resources fed into the project (e.g. people, money, time, buildings) INPUT The actual activity of the project ACTIVITY OUTPUT What happened as a result of the inputs and activities OUTCOME What are the short/medium term changes that you are trying to effect IMPACT What is the long term impact on the world

Theory of change

The lower your confidence in your theory of change, the more important it is to try to measure outcomes and impact. ULTIMATE IMPACT OUTCOMES Where do you need to measure progress? OUPUTS ACTIVITIES INPUTS HIGH LOW Confidence in theory of change 11

To prove and improve: the 10 steps Ask why evaluate? Know why you’re proving and improving. Clarify your key objectives, mission and values. Know where you are going. Identify your stakeholders. Map out the story (the hypothesis or theory of change) and describe the milestones. This is to determine the scope of an evaluation. Choose your indicators wisely (be challenging but realistic about what you can measure.)

To prove and improve: the 10 steps Make a plan. Choose a methodology – how to go about measuring these things. Collect the information: Identify existing records / Consult stakeholders / Pull together data Analyse the information, and draw conclusions Share it with others. Learn from it and act on it.

Measuring your success: The tools Elvis and Kresse, London Measuring your success: The tools There are around 25+ tools which can assist in the measurement of social impact Most prominent are: Social Accounting and Audit Social Return on Investment LM3 (Local Multiplier 3)

Measuring your success - tools Eco Management & Audit Scheme (EMAS) Local Multiplier 3 (LM3) Prove it! The Social Impact Measurement for local Economies (SIMPLE) Social Accounting and Audit (SAA) Social Return on Investment (SROI) Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit C3 Perform Customer Service Excellence (previously Charter-mark) European Foundation for Quality Management (EQFM) Fit for Purpose Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations (PQASSO) Social Enterprise Balanced Scorecard 3rd Sector Performance Dashboard Quality First Outcomes Star SOUL Record

Social Accounting and Audit A principles based approach to measuring impact Focused upon stakeholder consultation Uses qualitative and quantitative measuring of performance against a set of social objectives Creates a set of social accounts, independently verified at audit Enables year on year comparison and supports benchmarking activity Does not agree that every action/outcome can assume a financial value

Social Return on Investment Principles based approach but focused upon financial/numerical assessment of performance Uses financial proxies to evaluate social benefit (agreed or created proxies) Creates a £:£ ratio showing the social benefit achieved for every £ spent on services Less useful for internal and external benchmarking due to ‘snapshot’ nature of ratio generated Can be used to estimate future return on investment 17

LM3 (Local Multiplier 3) Focuses on expenditure/financial impacts Money flows out of communities – leakage Assess where money is spent and develop retention strategies 3 rounds of spending Local enterprises help money ‘stick’ Examine supply chains - involvement of local firms Consider - social capital and consequent effects Tescopoly cloning High Streets

Questions for your organisation Who owns evaluation? Who gets involved? (which stakeholders?) What %age of overall budget is spent on it? What are the internal barriers? (e.g. data, lack of senior buy-in, delivery staff) Do you use an external agency? How would it help? How can you hardwire it into activities? 19

What types of information help us prove & improve? Good Better Contribution (you helped) Attribution (you were responsible) Qualitative (stories and descriptions) Quantitative (numbers) Subjective (peoples’ perceptions) Objective (facts) Independent (just about you) Comparative (you in the context of others) 20

Useful points of contact Quality and Impact Toolkit for Social Enterprise - www.proveandimprove.org Social accounting and audit - www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk New Philanthropy Capital - www.thinknpc.org Social Return on Investment - www.thesroinetwork.org Inspiring Impact - http://inspiringimpact.org/ Key Social and Co-operative Performance Indicators www.cooperatives-uk.coop Charities Evaluation Service - www.ces-vol.org.uk NESTA - www.nesta.org.uk (standards of evidence) TRASI - http://trasi.foundationcenter.org/

www.socialenterprise.org.uk @SocialEnt_UK benjamin.brown@socialenterprise.org.uk