Social Return on Investment (SROI) Analysis

For millennia people have employed systems of accounting to understand financial returns. Not only does this help to streamline operations, it acts as a common language for outsiders to gain insight into the nature and the strengths and weaknesses of an organization. What happens, though, when maximizing financial returns is not the only (or even primary) goal of a group or projects SROI analysis gives your work both a means of self-evaluation and a language to communicate the non-financial impact of your efforts.

Social Return on Investment analysis is a process for systematically identifying, measuring and reporting the full spectrum of value—environmental, social and economic—in addition to any private financial gains. It enables your organization to more fully understand the impacts, positive and negative, of your work.

The foundation of legitimate SROI analyses is a rigorous methodology—one that is testable, replicable and verifiable. We accomplish this by ensuring five key characteristics: Feasibility | Credibility | Replicability | Transparency | Comprehensiveness.

A fundamental principle of SROI analyses is to hold each organization and project as a unique entity with a unique context. As such, we take great effort to make sure your work is understood and communicated within the context of your day-to-day reality rather than primarily through rankings against disparate organizations.

Visit our Client Projects area to see how SROI analysis has been applied to organizations in a variety of fields.

If you would like to know about how SROI Analysis can help you, please contact us.