Measuring social added value A model for public authorities Floriana Nappini [ Network: Better Future of Social Economy Partners and Experts seminar December 5 th, Milan

The 5 Strands: I-Public Procurement and Public-Private Partnerships Lead by the Polish Ministry of Regional Development II-Measuring Social Added Value Lead by the Lombardy Region III-State Aid and Social Services of General Interest Lead by the Flanders ESF Agency IV-Social Franchising Lead by the Swedish ESF Council V-Financial Instruments Lead by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Network: Better Future of Social Economy

Methodology The research outline is based on two principles: the importance of the experience aspect the participatory approach collecting as many experiences as possible on local, national and international levels involving all stakeholders: project partners, subjects who in the future will use the evaluation tool, but also social enterprises that will be the object of evaluation It should lead to the implementation of a tool that is as close as possible to the actual needs of the players involved and applicable to/in the everyday life of organisations.

I. Attention to direct experience - Desk research Survey of documents and site-bibliography: to identify sensitive areas and aspects to be considered; approaches and models for quality and social responsibility were examined. Subsequently, the research has focused the analysis on: International systems of quality evaluation (and particularly the ISO, SA8000 and EFQM rules) Evaluation systems promoted by EU projects within the last few years (e.g. several projects under EQUAL Initiative) Experiences of social accounting developed in Italy and Europe during the last twenty years. SROI models and tools

II. Participatory Approach -Stakeholders The following type of stakeholders have been involved: Project Partners Social enterprises Banks/Credit Institutions These stakeholders were involved through a number of different tools: Questionnaires One-to-one interviews Focus groups

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 tool for measuring social added value The Measurement Tool elaborate consists of two main parts: 1. The first part is designed to "measure" the social value produced by the social enterprise as a whole (based on Social accounting) 2. 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..)

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.

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 INDICATORDEFINITION 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 INDICATORDEFINITION 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.

Current Phases: Testing the tool Part I – Evaluation of the social added value produced by the enterprise Identifying a system of weights Benchmarking Building a specific software 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

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