Investing in impact (SROI partnership)

Core to SVA’s approach is a commitment to conducting rigorous evaluation and providing insightful reporting to articulate the results of our work. We believe funders of the social sector – philanthropists, corporates and government – have a right to demand accountability and need to share a sense of what’s possible from the evidence of what works.

A key tool used to demonstrate impact is Social Return on Investment (SROI), an innovative approach to measuring the impact of a project, program, social enterprise, non-profit organisation or policy that engages stakeholders and analyses the value created from social outcomes achieved and compares these to the investment required to generate these benefits. Find out more about how SVA Consulting can assist to demonstrate impact.

As part of SVA’s commitment to encourage increased transparency and improved accountability in the social sector, SVA has now joined forces with the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers to increase awareness of Social Return on Investment (SROI) in Australia.

Investing in Impact

This new partnership aims to develop a greater understanding of best practice in impact measurement, improve decision making of philanthropic foundations and individuals, encourage transparency amongst non-profit organisations and social enterprises in reporting their impact and develop an Australian SROI network. In addition to providing training to practitioners and consultants in SROI, it will link emerging SROI practice in Australia into international best practice.

With funding generously provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the partnership recently commissioned SVA Consulting to assess the current state of play of SROI in Australia today. The report assesses the impact of these developments and advises on actions to further the development and take-up of SROI in Australia. Read the full report [PDF File size: 1.2MB].

The partners produce a quarterly newsletter which covers all the latest developments in SROI. Copies of past and current editions are available here:

Click here to download the SROI Newsletter – June 2011 [PDF File: 263KB]
Click here to download the SROI Newsletter – March 2011 [PDF File: 868KB]
Click here to download the SROI Newsletter – August 2010 [PDF File: 69KB]
Click here to download the SROI Newsletter – July 2010 [PDF File: 64KB]
Click here to download the SROI Newsletter – April 2010 [PDF File: 96KB]

To sign up for future newsletters, please email your full name and contact information to subscribeSROInews@socialventures.com.au.