Knowledge Bank

Social Return on Investment

November 30, -0001, Evaluation Observatory

Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, quit his job as a financial analyst to make a world class education accessible for all through his free videos for students. Despite Khan’s initial struggled to make the initiative financially sustainable, Khan’s vision kept him going.

With time, the initiative gained momentum, with Khan Academy becoming increasingly influential with the difference it was making in the lives of millions of students. The TIMEs magazine even named him one among the 100 most influential people in the world. With the kind of difference Khan was making in the lives of children across the world; for every dollar invested in the project, the social returns on investment were simply exponential. You can read more about Khan’s initiative here

For every dollar invested in the project, can we measure the social returns on investment in monetary terms? The Social Return on Investment (SROI) method precisely attempts to capture this.

Social Return on investment(SROI) is a framework for measuring social and environmental values and accounting for economic cost benefits in the project's decision-making (Durie et al., 2012). Itgives more importance to ‘value’ over ‘money’. While a return on investment is just a number, a ‘social return on investment’ is about creating a change by looking beyond numbers and expressing the social values in terms of the monetary ratio.

For a broad overview

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• The Beginners Guide To Social Return on Investment

  Published by Sinzer, this guide helps beginners get familiarised with the basics of SROI, measure the project's social value and carry out SROI analysis.

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• Starting Out On Social Return on Investment

  Hall Aitken developed this guide to help practitioners understand the social value of an organisation's impact. It has three parts: Is this for you, why, what, and how? and practical next steps.

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• Is It Worth It? How To Measure Social Return on Investment

  Developed by Deloitte, this resource provides the rationale for SROI and comprehensively explains various aspects of measuring social returns.

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• Social Return On Investment Accounting For Value In The Context Of Implementing Health 2020 And The 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development By WHO

  This document is designed by the World Health Organisation(Europe), highlighting the importance of SROI in attracting investments in implementing the Sustainable Development Agenda for Europe.

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• Video Resource: Two Approaches To Measuring Performance: Social Return On Investment (SROI) And Ratings

  Developed by the University of Pennsylvania, this video resource explains the SROI concept in simple language and critiques the SROI approach, arguing whether ‘social value’ can truly be monetised.

For in depth understanding

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• Measuring Value: A Guide to Social Return on Investment (SROI)

  An Independent Think Tank, the New Economics Foundatoin (NEF) has developed this resource for public and private organisations, third sector organisations, or anyone interested in SROI. The guide provides descriptions, definitions of key terms, a checklist and tips for conducting SROI

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• A Guide to Social Return on Investment

  The Cabinet Office of Third Sector and Scottish Government have jointly developed this resource, guiding practitioners on the SROI methodology and its utility

Case Study

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• Social Inclusion: Lentil as Anything - Social Return on Investment (SROI) Report

  Lentil as Anything describes itself as a movement for ‘social fairness and inclusion’, removing prices on Menu cards to promote social inclusion through a ‘pay as you feel’ model. This vodeo resource talks about the SROI report of the initiatives highlights gains in social inclusion, employment, government cost savings in terms of monetary value.

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• Public Health: Social Return on Investment (SROI): A Case Study With An Expert Patient Programme

  Developed by SelfCare, a Consumer-led Journal, this resource uses the SROI method to assess the social impact of an EPP programme for Substance and Alcohol Misuse (SAM) in the UK

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• Social Return on Investment (SROI) Method To Evaluate Physical Activity And Sport Interventions: A Systematic Review

  Published by the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, this resource discusses various interventions in Physical Activity and Sport using the SROI method.

Toolkits

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• Social Value Self-Assessment Tool

  In collaboration with Hall Aitken, Social Value UK has developed this resource that helps assess the quality social value measurement against the seven SROI principles

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• Three Tools That Help You Calculate SROI

  Developed by Sopact, this resource explains tools that practitioners can use to calculate SROI effectively