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Understanding Your Social Impact Introduction to Social Impact Measurement – 2nd CRN Conference, November 2011 Penny Morriss, Forth Sector Development +44 (0)131 659 4745 [email protected] Overview • What is social impact and why should we care about ours? • What are some key terms and concepts? • What methods and approaches could I use to measure mine? • We’ve seen the benefits – now what about the challenges? • How do I get started? Firstly, who am I? Forth Sector - an Edinburgh based and long standing social enterprise running supporting people with significant challenges in the labour market through our social firms Forth Sector Development – long history in the developing discourse on social impact measurement in Scotland, led the SROI Project and now manage Social Impact Scotland What is ‘Social Impact?’ • The effects on various people, groups of people, communities, and entities that happen as a result of an action, activity, project, programme or policy • The change that happens for people as a result of an action or activity. Social Impact Measurement Understanding, proving, measuring and evaluating the effects, or changes, that result from an activity or action Focused on RESULTS (outcomes) and not PROCESS (inputs/outputs) Why Measure Yours? - Understand what you do well, and what you don’t do so well - Improve your service or activity, and focus on the activities and projects that make a real difference - Spend wisely, and be more competitive in business and when attracting funding and investment Why Measure Yours? Continue to Increase the Social Impact (and environmental, and economic impacts) of what you do over time, by being able to evidence the impact that you make and by being able to adjust the way you do things to always do things better Terminology and Key Concepts • When we talk about ‘outcomes’ and ‘social impact’ there can be confusion about the meaning of some of the related terminology: Outcome, Output, Input, Impact, Social Value Indicators Stakeholders Outcomes ‘Outcomes are the changes, benefits, learning or other effects that happen as a result of your work’ Charities Evaluation Service’ • Intended, Unintended, • Positive, Negative, Change, Prevent Change, Hard Outcomes, Soft Outcomes Others … • Input • Output • Impact The resources required by an activity The tangible products of an activity The cumulative results of outcomes at a broader level i.e. for society • Social Value The worth of an outcome, or of the impact of outcomes, for a stakeholder, for society, or some time for the public purse • Stakeholders Individuals, groups or entities that affect, or are effected by, an activity So, all together.. Inputs Outputs Outcomes Impact ‘The Women’s Project aims to reduce unwanted From inputs to impact teenage pregnancy by offering support and group Case study: The Women’s Project work to young women’ Inputs Outputs Outcomes Impact Staff Budget Venue Advertising One-to-one support Group work Outings Increase in young people’s confidence Reduction in social exclusion Awareness of alternatives to young parenthood Reduction in teenage pregnancies Access to education and training opportunities Reduction in social exclusion Well Known Approaches .. • • • • • • Social Return on Investment Social Accounting and Audit Logic Modelling / Theory of Change Outcomes Accountability There are others! EMAS and ECO Mapping Some things to remember… Evaluation v. Monitoring, v. Planning and Mapping outcomes ‘Social’ impact is subjective – What is it that you want to understand, and from what perspective? Who are you doing the analysis for, and are you speaking the same language as your audiences? Shared Principles… Focused on Results, or Outcomes of a process, and not the process itself About making a difference and understanding what change means to people, and potentially how they value it Shared Principles… Involve stakeholders to understand the change they have experienced Be Transparent and open about assumptions in your analysis You can find out more.. Social Impact Scotland http://www.socialimpactscotland.org.uk Charities Evaluation Service http://www.ces-vol.org.uk Challenges Resource Intensive? Costly? Difficult? Culture Change? Difficult to Implement – Outputs to Outcomes? Getting Started Understand WHY you want to undertake an evaluation and WHO it is for……… Identify the approach that is the best fit for you by knowing what it is you want to measure and how you want to report it Getting Started Consider available resources, and limitations To undertake any evaluation, or analysis, of your impact, you need to set the scope of the work. This means setting the boundaries and limitations on what and who you will include, and how ‘in-depth’ the evaluation will be – and the resources you have available to you will influence these decisions more than anything else Getting Started Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement – who to include and what is their experience in their words of your activity? • Which Stakeholders will you include? • What Outcomes will you measure? • What INDICATORS will you use to understand whether outcomes are occurring, and to what extent? • Who needs to be involved in the evaluation, and do you have their support and buy-in? Getting Started Review your current monitoring practice • Monitoring outcomes versus outputs? • Quality and depth of the data you already have to hand? • Can you adapt what you are doing already, or do you really have to start from scratch? • How long do you think you’ll need to collect the data you need for your evaluation? Getting Started A cycle of evaluation and monitoring, and continual improvement… Evaluate IMPACT IMPROVE , REPLACE or RE DESIGN Service CONTINUAL OUTCOMES MONITORING Questions? ????????????????? ?????????????? ??????????????? ???????? ???????