2023 Budget and beyond: will anyone be left behind?
If the 2023 Commonwealth Budget was judged by whether it puts us on a path to ‘solving’ disadvantage, how would it fare?
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Sharing insights from SVA’s work and across the social sector to prompt learning and discussion about effective practice.
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Measuring the ‘S’ in ESG
With SVA’s help, Australian Unity has for the first time developed a framework to define, measure and value the community and social impact it creates in its diverse businesses.
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Indigenous evaluation: how you do it is as important as what you find out
Indigenous evaluation case study: why the process was important, the critical insights and resulting implications for evaluators and the Indigenous sector as well as the client.
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Building a sector-wide approach to measuring impact
Financial capability foundation, Ecstra, has designed a framework to enable a common approach to measuring impact for all its grant partners with the intention of creating long-term change across the sector.
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Disability housing: what does good look like?
SVA has partnered with the disability sector to co-develop a common outcomes framework for disability housing that is both meaningful and practical. +Podcast
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A guide to social impact measurement
Get on top of your social impact measurement and evaluation projects with this accessible guide to existing SVA Quarterly articles.
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Seven pitfalls to avoid in outcomes measurement
What are the common things that go wrong when setting up an outcomes measurement approach? SVA consultants share 10 years of insights.
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How can evaluation better recognise Indigenous self-determination?
The right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination has significant implications for evaluating policies and programs that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. +Audio
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Data sovereignty, community control and better outcomes
How data sovereignty can empower First Australian communities to define success on their own terms, and in doing so, improve outcomes for people.
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Growing effectiveness – one year on
This month marks a year since SVA launched the SVA Fundamentals for Impact. Over that time we have learnt a lot about how to use and adapt the framework.
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Are you really focused on your clients?
Prompts to help you reflect on how well you focus on your clients and what they need, drawing upon the SVA Fundamentals for Impact.
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SROI revolution or evolution?
Over the last 10 years, Social Return on Investment (SROI) has evolved putting it at the forefront for how society can better account for what really matters. +Podcast
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How to measure outcomes
Part two of the step-by-step guide to set up an outcomes management approach, covers how you measure outcomes. +Podcast
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How to adopt an outcomes-focused approach
Part one of a step-by-step guide for setting up an outcomes management approach for your organisation – defining how you create the change. +Podcast
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Hard measures for soft skills
The OECD’s Dr Andreas Schleicher outlines the ‘21st century skills’ or general capabilities, why they matter and whether they can be measured. +Podcast
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Scaling SVA Consulting: an insider’s perspective
SVA Consulting Executive Director, Olivia Hilton reflects on what brought her to the business and the principles that have shaped and guided its growth. +Podcast
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How to be more effective in reducing disadvantage?
After 10 years in the sector, SVA Consulting reflects on the strategies and interventions that it has seen deliver the greatest impact. +Audio
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Once were SVA: where are they now?
In this special SVA Quarterly article, we catch up with six people who used to work with SVA to find out what they are doing now, and how their time at SVA shaped what they do.
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Sector trends: stories from the frontline part 2
In part 2, leaders reflect on how their organisations are responding to trends in evidence-based practice, innovation capabilities, place-based service design and collaboration. +Audio
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The value of a peer operated service
Insights from SVA’s analysis of a peer operated mental health service which reveals just how and why this approach is so valuable to those accessing the service and the local mental health system. +Audio
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Managing to outcomes: what, why and how?
What does ‘managing to outcomes’ mean and why are small and large organisations alike embarking on this journey?
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Systems that learn: creating an education evidence ecosystem
To get Australia’s children learning as well as any in the world, we need rigorous evidence of what works and why – accessible to every teacher, principal and policy-maker.
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Healthy country, healthy people
Analyses of five Indigenous Protected Areas across Australia demonstrate the social and cultural co-benefits of Indigenous land management initiatives. +Podcast
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Why and how corporate funders should manage to outcomes
Why corporate philanthropists need to adopt an outcomes management approach, the priorities to consider and how Woodside has done it.
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One year in for SVA’s CEO
At the end of his first year as SVA’s CEO, Rob Koczkar shares what motivates him and how his corporate experience applies in the for-purpose world.
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How culture grows effective outcomes
Te Whānau O Waipareira is working with SVA Consulting to build an outcomes management culture and strategy to measure what really matters for Māori families. +Audio
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Evidence informed practice needed to buck trends in education
Matthew Deeble emphasises why establishing a culture of evidence informed practice is critical in reversing the national decline in educational outcomes.
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Innovating with impact in education
Kevan Collins, CEO of the UK Education Endowment Foundation, describes the three ingredients of a system which supports ‘disciplined innovation’.
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Data needed to innovate and scale
Rob Koczkar, SVA CEO, describes how we can achieve improved social outcomes by applying business disciplines, particularly through improved availability and use of data.
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Three weeks in the desert: engaging with Indigenous communities
Brendan Ferguson explores the Martu people’s deep connection to country through a Social Return on Investment analysis.
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Data Labs: opening up existing data
Data Labs are a new, low-cost way to understand service impact using existing data. What are Data Labs and how can they help identify what is having the greatest impact?
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Look before you leap into buying outcomes measurement software
The right software can make outcomes measurement and evaluation a lot easier. But how do you select the best outcomes measurement software for your organisation?
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Extended benefits of an SROI report
There can be additional benefits from an SROI analysis if it is approached in the right way.
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Getting the most out of SROI
A full Social Return on Investment (SROI) report isn’t the only way to benefit from applying the SROI framework.
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Shared measurement: easier than you think
Developing a shared measurement framework is easier than you think; moreover it can lead to better outcomes for clients.
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Brave leaders hold and measure clear goals
New Philanthropy Capital’s Tris Lumley would die happy if every non-profit organisation set clear goals, measured them, held to them and stopped making excuses.
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Stop proving; start improving!
A challenging case for refocusing measurement and evaluation around simple measures that drive improvement rather than time-consuming academic studies that provide ‘proof’.
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Innovative way to measure what matters
IBA has developed an affordable, transparent and objective system that measures social impact and is helping management make appropriate and timely decisions to improve outcomes.
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Putting the ‘ROI’ back into SROI
How to use Social Return on Investment (SROI) to compare social investments.
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Finding the golden thread: a new approach to articulating program logic
Articulate program logic statements – the indispensable tools for describing how our activities lead to the impact we seek – with the effective Golden Thread methodology.
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Social Return on Investment: Accounting for value
How can Social Return on Investment (SROI) help you evaluate your performance or that of organisations you wish to fund?
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