The SROI Network UK

Welcome

Welcome to The SROI Network website.

Here you will find information on the use of SROI and accounting for value.

SROI is a framework based on social generally accepted accounting principles (SGAAP) that can be used to help manage and understand the social, economic and environmental outcomes created by your activity or organisation.

Social Return on Investment (SROI) aims to increase social equality, environmental sustainability and wellbeing.

Our Mission Is to change the way the world accounts for value that enables better decision-making and ultimately, achievement of the vision for SROI.

We believe that current approaches contribute to social inequality and environmental degradation. It will not be enough to create new approaches that sit alongside current practice. We need mainstream approaches to include a wider sense of value and to give a voice to those that are affected. For this to happen we need to show that value is missing from many or even most decisions about policy and practice. And that it is possible to show what is missing and value it, in a way that is clearly viable and reasonable.

This is what SROI does.

Read the entire SROI Vision statement here

Why Should I Use SROI?

SROI will help you understand, manage and communicate the social value that your work creates in a clear and consistent way with customers, beneficiaries and funders.

It can help you manage risks and identify opportunities and raise finance.

It will throw up potential improvements to services, information systems and the way you govern you businesses.

All in order to increase the social value or impact of your work.

Whether you are a private enterprise, a social business, an investor or commissioning services, SROI will help you account for the wider impact of your work and allow you to make more informed decisions.

Because SROI is built on principles, it is very flexible. Different organisations create value in many different ways. A consistent approach to understanding and accounting for social value means that you can communicate clearly where and how you create value in a credible way.

What is Social Return on Investment (SROI)?

SROI is based on seven principles:

1. Involve stakeholders
   Understand the way in which the organisation creates change through a dialogue with stakeholders
2. Understand what changes
   Acknowledge and articulate all the values,  objectives and stakeholders of the organisation before agreeing which aspects of the organisation are to be included in the scope; and determine what must be included in the account in order that stakeholders can make reasonable decisions
3. Value the things that matter
   Use financial proxies for indicators in order to include the values of those excluded from markets in same terms as used in markets
4. Only include what is material
   Articulate clearly how activities create change and evaluate this through the evidence gathered
5. Do not over-claim
   Make comparisons of performance and impact using appropriate benchmarks, targets and external standards.
6. Be transparent
   Demonstrate the basis on which the findings may be considered accurate and honest; and showing that they will be reported to and discussed with stakeholders
7. Verify the result
   Ensure appropriate independent verification of the account

These principles are core to SROI and how it should be used.  However, in encouraging consistency of models, the SROI Network is in discussion with practitioners who use related tools to see if principles can be aligned and agreement established on measuring social impact.  Therefore, these principles and how they are expressed may be revised.

SROI Membership

The SROI Network is a membership organisations owned by its members. You can become more involved in the Network by taking up an annual subscription and becoming a member.

Members of the SROI Network can be either individual members or corporate members.There are two levels of corporate members depending on the level of turnover. In addition there are other benefits for members who have become accredited practitioners.

The cost and membership benefits are set out in the table below. Corporate membership allows a number of named individual members. Accredited practitioner status only relates to individuals.

(lack of) consistency in measuring social value

The biggest problem that is faced by all of us interested in social value, impact, returns  - whatever language you prefer –is the lack of consistency. And yet I still keep hearing ‘we can’t support one approach’ or ‘organisations should be able to choose methods that are most appropriate to them’ or ‘small and start up organisations should be able to do something simple’. This general difficulty to go for consistency and standardisation is costing us dearly, not just in organisations that aim to create social value but in all businesses, since all businesses have wider effects than those reflected in their financial accounts. Of course many would not think a choice is required, that standardisation is not necessary. And of course if we had consistency and standardisation there would be some organisations that would not create as much value as they had previously argued, and some activities that do create value that would lose out.