Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a principles-based methodology for understanding, measuring, and reporting on the social, environmental, and economic value created by an organisation or programme. Originally developed by REDF and later refined by Social Value UK, SROI produces a ratio — for example, €4.20 of social value for every €1 invested — that communicates impact in terms that funders, boards, and policymakers can immediately understand.
Why SROI Matters Now
As funding competition intensifies and public accountability expectations rise, organisations can no longer rely on activity counts or anecdotal evidence to demonstrate their value. SROI provides a rigorous, internationally recognised framework that translates outcomes into a language that resonates with a wide range of stakeholders — from institutional donors to government commissioners to impact investors.
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The Seven SROI Principles
- Involve stakeholders — identify and engage those who are affected by your activities
- Understand what changes — articulate the outcomes experienced by stakeholders
- Value what matters — assign financial proxies to outcomes that are not traded in markets
- Only include what is material — focus on outcomes that would change a stakeholder's decision
- Do not over-claim — account for what would have happened anyway, attribution to others, and drop-off over time
- Be transparent — document assumptions, data sources, and limitations clearly
- Verify the result — subject the analysis to independent review
The Six Steps of a SROI Analysis
A full SROI analysis follows a structured process. It begins with establishing scope and identifying stakeholders, then maps the theory of change connecting inputs and activities to outputs, outcomes, and impact. The analysis then assigns financial values to outcomes using appropriate proxies, establishes the impact — net of deadweight, attribution, displacement, and drop-off — and finally calculates the SROI ratio.
Evaluative vs. Forecast SROI
An evaluative SROI looks backwards, measuring value that has already been created based on actual data. A forecast SROI looks forward, projecting the value that will be created if activities proceed as planned. Both approaches are valid and serve different purposes — evaluative SROIs are particularly powerful for donor reporting and accountability, while forecast SROIs are useful for programme design and investment decisions.
Enable Good has conducted SROI analyses for NGOs, social enterprises, and corporate CSR programmes across multiple sectors. We design every analysis to be both methodologically robust and practically useful — producing a report that stakeholders can trust and act on.
