Measuring social value: the gap between policy and practice
“Measures of social return are not like laws or sausages; you do want to understand how they are made”
The report looks into social value and methods of measuring it, such as Social Return on Investment. It concludes that SROI, while valuable, “can be an extremely ambitious goal”. It reports on how 30 of organisations have measured and communicated methodologies to measure their social value.
“Three things seem particularly crucial: first, we should not forget our ultimate goal is social impact - measurement is merely a tool to help us maximise this; second, the move to better measures of social return on investment is a journey. The important thing is to embark on that journey, get the benefit from the first steps, and not worry too much that nirvana is a long way off; third, the sector is going to need a lot of help.”
