Social Impact Assessment

Social impact assessment is an emerging field with influences being drawn from practice, from academia and from public policy. Various approaches are being developed, trialled and tested globally and this work is likely to continue for many years. The complexity of measuring and assessing ‘intangible’ impacts is a major contributing factor to the diversity of approaches currently being explored.

A key concept in approaching social impact assessment theory and practice is the difference between frameworks and tools. Frameworks provide an overarching strategy for organising the approach to impact assessment, whereas tools are designed to assess specific aspects of activity. It is important to be clear which you are working with and which will best fit the purpose at hand.

The following resources are provided to inform thinking about approaches to social impact assessment and does not in any way propose to represent the full spectrum of activity.

*Please note that Parramatta City Council in no way endorses any of the content listed here. It is provided for information purposes only.

• Social Accounting & Audit - visit the Social Accounting Network website at: www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk. Clicking on the 'sample social accounts' link at the top of the page will take you to a 'clickable' listing of social accounts compiled and published by a range of organisations, large and small. The 'manual & CD' link will take you to the where the workbook can be downloaded and ‘Really Telling Accounts’ provides commentary on a recent review of the framework.
  
  
• Social Return on Investment - visit The SROI Network website at: www.thesroinetwork.org. A new user-friendly guide on the process has recently been released and is downloadable from the website. This version broadens the SROI approach and builds on previous work undertaken by REDF and the new economics foundation.
  
  
• The Demonstrating Value project Vancouver based project exploring and trialling tools for demonstrating the value of social enterprise. Available at: www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca/projects/demonstrating_value and www.demonstratingvalue.org
  
  
• Prove and Improve – A quality and impact toolkit for social enterprise, with a wide range of tools detailed. Available at: www.proveandimprove.org/new
  
  
• Theory of Change based Impact Map – Simple tool that can assist with planning an approach. Developed by the new economics foundation (nef). Available at: www.proveandimprove.org/new/getst/ImpactMap.php
  
  
• The Social Audit Cookbook – developed in 2002 by Australian researcher Eva Cox. Available at: http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au/download/social_audit_cookbook.pdf
  
  
• Catalog of approaches to impact measurement – assessing social impact in private ventures. Compiled by the Social Venture Technology Group. Available at: www.svtgroup.net/pdfs/RIICcatalogLR_v1-1.pdf (3.65 Mb)
  
  
• Social Impact Tracker – The Tool Factory’s (UK) monitoring database system that assists with managing and reporting on the data behind social impact assessment.
  www.thetoolfactory.com
  
  
• LM3 Online and Plugging the Leaks – Local economic development tools that assist with measuring the economic contribution of an organisation to a specific community. Available at: www.lm3online.org and www.pluggingtheleaks.org
  
  
• Keystone Reporting - Impact Planning, Assessment and Learning (IPAL) tool. Available at: www.keystoneaccountability.org/tools
  
  
• The Global Reporting Initiative – NGO Sector Supplement project. Available at: www.globalreporting.org/NR/exeres/19B9E00D-299D-4F3C-A5A7-6B9650EDC532,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published
  
  
• ‘Why measuring and communicating social value can help social enterprise become more competitive’ - A social enterprise think piece for the Office of the Third Sector, November 2007 by Jeremy Nicholls. Available at: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/cabinetoffice/third_sector/assets/measuring_communicating_social_value.pdf
  
  
• Reporting on Community Impacts - A survey conducted by the Global Reporting Initiative, the University of Hong Kong and CSR Asia. Available at: www.globalreporting.org/NR/rdonlyres/6D00BC14-2035-42AB-AB6A-5102F1FF8961/0/CIReportfinalnew.pdf
  

‘Demonstrating value and impact in the social economy’ forum – Sydney, June 15 2009

This forum on social impact assessment was organised through a collaboration between Parramatta City Council, the University of Technology’s Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre, Westpac Foundation and GROW Sydney ACC. Further information on the event, including audio recordings of presentations, can be accessed at: http://cosmopolitancivilsocieties.com/demonstratingvalue/

The event was a follow-on activity arising out of the Social Accounting & Audit training program that was successfully delivered by John Pearce (the UK Social Audit Network Chair) in Sydney in September 2008. The training was made possible through a collaboration between Parramatta City Council, AMES and Social Alchemy. The information sheet for the training sessions can be accessed here SAN Training info sheet.