WHAT IS SROI? Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a framework based on social accounting principles that can be used to help value (monetize) the social, economic and environmental outcomes created by an organization’s activities. Specifically, SROI analysis is intended to illustrate the amount of social value created for every dollar invested in a program….
ENHANCED REPORTING A growing importance has been placed on organizations, by the public, to report above and beyond the financial status of the organization. Stakeholders expect enhanced reporting practices as they want to be actively communicated with, regarding the community investment activities. Increasingly, organizations are releasing annual community investment or corporate social responsibility reports to…
WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A COMMUNITY PARTNER Trends indicate that companies with community investment programs are interested in partnering with community based organizations and institutions. By working with community partners, companies are able to directly benefit communities, while also strengthening relationships with their customers and employees. For effective long-term partnerships, it is important for…
COLLECTING DATA FROM CHILDREN I’ve now accumulated some experience leading SiMPACT SROI evaluation projects that involve children under 13 years old. The youngest members of some social programs with which I’ve done an SROI for have been five or six years old. The SROI framework encourages highly participatory, stakeholder-informed contributions to the evaluation, from the…
KEEPING EMPLOYEES ENGAGED! Employee engagement is a recurring theme in many blog and newspaper articles. Engaged employees typically feel that they are respected, integral member of their teams, and important to the success of the organization as a whole. Not surprisingly, these employees are more likely to remain committed to their organizations. A study summarized…
BUILDING STANDARD OF PRACTICE IN SROI In November 2014, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) International Network merged with Social Impact Analysts Association (SIAA) to form Social Value International (SVI). This is an exciting development as the two organizations had strong visions of putting social value on the agendas of government, corporate, and social profit…
HOW CAN YOU UNLOCK THE VALUE OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT? DEFINE IT. KPMG’s recent report Unlocking the value of social investment states that companies around the world have no trouble reporting on community investment inputs and outputs, but reporting on impact remains elusive. Many challenges to impact reporting are listed, ones that we have all encountered in our…
IMPORTANCE OF AUDITING COMMUNITY INVESTMENT A recent blog post on Corporate Citizenship, Benchmarking Blunders, is a great reminder on the importance and benefits of using audited data when comparing community investment, employee giving and employee volunteering programs. Auditing is a fundamental part of the LBG Canada process. At SiMPACT, we believe the annual audit underpins…
SiMPACT UPDATE SiMPACT’s work falls into three areas: broader community investment consulting, facilitating LBG Canada, and a diversified portfolio of consulting and training in SROI. News from SROI and Evaluation Team The SROI and evaluation team at SiMPACT has much on the go! Current projects range from individual analysis of Right to Play, Special Olympics,…
ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION’S COMMUNITY CAPITAL FUND Over the past year SiMPACT has been working with the Ontario Trillium Foundation on a large-scale evaluation of its Community Capital Fund (CCF) program. The CCF was a three-year program designed to provide support for capital projects to revitalize community-based infrastructure, which helps Ontario’s non-profit organizations deliver important programs…
MONEY DOES MATTER SiMPACT has recently been working with ABC Life Literacy to determine the social value of its Money Matters program through a Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis. Money Matters is a free financial literacy and education savings program that is designed for adult learners and was created to raise financial literacy and…
LBG CANADA AUDIT & BENCHMARKING PROCESS The LBG Canada network represents over 250 community investment professionals within multiple sectors across Canada – all seeking to achieve the highest standard in community investment. Members of LBG Canada participate in an annual benchmarking process audit to help each company demonstrate the value of its community investment portfolio. Six…
LBG CANADA TRENDS IN LEVERAGING EXTERNAL RESOURCES External resources leveraged are contributions to a community project that can be directly linked to a company’s involvement in the project (e.g. matched funds from the government, input from a corporate partner, or customer donations) that do not result in a cost to the host company. The leveraging…
LBG CANADA EMPLOYEE GIVING PROGRAM MANAGEMENT TRENDS Employee engagement, vital to any organization, is a key driver of employee motivation. An effective way to engage employees involves having targeted community investment initiatives and employee giving programs. For these programs to be successful, proper management and administration is required. Effective communication, clear guidelines outlining when community partners are…
LBG CANADA TRENDS IN VOLUNTEERING AND GIVING PROGRAMS Employee engagement matters. The findings of a study involving over 1500 employees was recently summarized in an article written by Adam Weinger. The study showed that “companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%.” A key driver in an engaged employee is the pride…
ASSOCIATE EXPANSION AT SiMPACT written by: Kaitlyn MacMillan, Communications Specialist Over the last few months, SiMPACT has had the opportunity to welcome three new faces to our team: Laura Dickson, Chief Operating Officer, Jenny Ofrim, SROI & Evaluation Consultant and Rosalie Wood, Executive Assistant & Office Manager. Laura Dickson Position: Chief Operating Officer Hometown: Toronto,…
SiMPACT RESPONDS TO SROI INTEREST ACROSS CANADA written by: Laura Dickson, COO During the month of March, the SiMPACT SROI team took our training and customized SROI analysis on the road. Our first stop was Yellowknife, NWT where we presented two days of introductory SROI training to individuals with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Next on…
