Social Impact Decision-Making System based on SROI Methodology
Social enterprises and nonprofit organizations (NPO) often face challenges in accurately reflecting their social value through traditional financial indicators and evaluation methods. Therefore, it is necessary to utilize more objective methods to evaluate social impact and maximize the benefits of valuable resources.
Social Return on Investment (SROI) was developed by the UK government’s third sector to evaluate the changes that organizations bring about in social, environmental, and economic aspects, assigning them a unified monetary value. This enables a fair and objective assessment of the crucial relationship between resource inputs and outcomes. The SROI methodology consists of six important stages:
- Define scope and stakeholders.
- Map the project’s impact to visualize outcomes.
- Evaluate and endow value to outcomes.
- Convert outcomes into quantified impact.
- Calculate the value of resources invested before and after.
- Disclose and track social impact.
By closely interviewing and engaging with stakeholders, collecting data, and gaining a comprehensive understanding of sustainable projects through the bottom-up data collection and recording process, it aligns perfectly with the core value of the social impact decision-making system. Therefore, the introduction of the SROI methodology represents a significant and potential milestone for “TownIntelligent” and our imperative partners — “TownWay,” “TownEmpowerment,” and “TownTerroir” in 2023.
In the future, organizations will have a clear understanding of their social impact and be equipped with data-driven insights to respond quickly and efficiently to the top-down ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) policies and digital transformation trends. This will ensure that resource inputs and utilization between businesses and organizations are sustainable and effective.
