SROI Centre for Excellence

Collective intelligence for social value

What is SROI? from nef consulting on Vimeo.

Background

In the current economic climate, organisations across the public, private and third sectors are faced with having to do more with less. Robust assessments of value for money are, therefore, more urgent than ever and we are seeing more and more organisations adopting SROI (Social Return on Investment) in order to demonstrate their impact.

nef and nef consulting were integral to the development of the SROI methodology, and have conducted more analyses than any other organisation, using the most sophisticated economic modelling techniques. We think at a time when value for money is paramount, it is important to support society to understand value for money in a way which includes social and environmental outcomes alongside the economic costs and benefits.

We want to share our experience and build on it: we have learned a lot and we know that others have too. We want to capture this collective intelligence on social value.

We believe transparency and consistency in approach will help practitioners communicate the value of SROI.
Together we want to make SROI synonymous with excellence in evaluation and appraisal. We want to help organisations understand and articulate the value of what they do, and use this information to advance themselves, make better decisions, and produce better outcomes for those they seek to help.

Chris Wright, Chief Executive at Catch22 commented: “Catch22 welcomes the work that will be carried out by the Centre for Excellence to advance and refine the SROI methodology and to help organisations across the public, private, voluntary and social enterprise sector to produce better outcomes for our commissioners, customers, service users and beneficiaries.” 

Alongside our existing SROI masterclasses, and online library of resources, we want to ensure that excellence in SROI is accessible to all.