Main navigation

Measuring Social Value 

The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) will be running a new project on Social Return on Investment (SROI) to be taken forward over 2008-2011. The Measuring Social Value project will be run by a consortium led by SROI UK, with New Philanthropy Capital, New Economics Foundation, Charities Evaluation Service and National Council of Voluntary Organisations as members. Further details on who's involved in the project and how you can be updated and attend SROI events can be found via the link below:

• Who's involved?

This OTS project will be taken forward over 2008-2011 and will build on current work around impact measurement. The project has several aims:

• Standardise the approach to using SROI
• Increase the accessibility of SROI for social investors and third sector organisations
• Develop a network of practitioners who will raise awareness of SROI and social reporting
• Increase the evidence base of the impact of the third sector
• Enable social enterprises and other third sector organisations to prove the social value they create
• Support social investors and commissioners of public services to make more intelligent investment or purchasing decisions

The project also aims to encourage wider use of SROI, through making it more accessible and more cost effective for organisations and more attractive to investors, funders and commissioners.

The project will be run alongside a complementary project to be funded by the Scottish Government’s Third Sector Division (TSD). The Scottish Government’s project will, in particular, have responsibility for the development of a SROI portal and of new training materials for practitioners.

• Scottish Government Third Sector Division [external website]

Further background on the project and OTS development work on SROI can be found below together with details of hoe the OTS will be working with HM Treasury to explore how SROI can be integrated into Green Book methodology.

• Further background
• HM Treasury's Green Book