1. Social Impact Measurement What gets measured gets managed
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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

2. 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” ……..

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

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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. Every organisation – no matter how small or new – can measure its social impact7

8. 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

9. 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

10. Theory of change

11. 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

12. 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.)

13. 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.

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Useful points of contact
Quality and Impact Toolkit for Social Enterprise -
Social accounting and audit -
New Philanthropy Capital -
Social Return on Investment -
Inspiring Impact -
Key Social and Co-operative Performance Indicators
Charities Evaluation Service -
NESTA - (standards of evidence)
TRASI -

22. www.socialenterprise.org.uk @SocialEnt_UK