Social Impact Measurement
Changes in social policy
Inspire2Enterprise helps third sector organisations looking to trade by way of social enterprise navigate the UK social policy landscape. A landscape which has undergone radical change in recent years.
With the real value of government expenditure – i.e. how much it improves people’s lives – recently thrown into question, new approaches to public spending and service commissioning have been developed.
Among government agencies and organisations, ‘evidence-based policy making’ has been widely endorsed, while the ‘social return on investment (SROI)’ model is gaining traction in the voluntary sector. These approaches seek to measure and maximise the social outcomes delivered by public spending, and signal a departure from the policy methods of old.
At Inspire2Enterprise, we work to ensure organisations can adapt their methods to meet the needs and expectations of commissioners and end-users following these changes and developments.
Communicating social value
These days, people are less convinced by ‘the numbers argument’ in service delivery. Instead, there is an increased focus on the quality of the outcome, rather than the numerical output.
For this reason, it is essential that organisations are able to demonstrate social impact. Indeed, with the introduction of Payment by Results (PbR) in many public service contracts, providers’ fees are increasingly linked to results that demonstrate that set targets have been achieved. For example, that social care services have met people’s needs under the personalised care agenda, or that repeat offending has been reduced.
At Inspire2Enterprise we have a wealth of expertise in social impact measurement. We can work alongside your organisation, or we can oversee the whole process for you. Either way, our team of social impact experts can help you:
- Analyse and quantify social value
- Develop an index against which to measure social outcomes
- Assess in quantifiable terms what was previously unmeasurable
Our aim is to help you produce bids and proposals that communicate clearly the social value of your work. Speaking the language of funders and investors, these documents can greatly enhance your organisation’s prospects for new work.