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organizations that open commercial activities as part of their overall operations. Our hypothesis is that non-profits are obliged to follow their Articles of Association, which clearly set out the organization’s goals and objectives of the organization, its target audiences and their problems, which the organization addresses. If, however, impact assessment shows that the project has an impact on a completely different target group or does not solve the stated problem at all, this can cast doubts on the entire organization’s activity and can have a negative impact on its image.
However, it is worth noting that this is a false logical connection. No active and developing organization can be absolutely constant in its goals and objectives. Even a zero effect is certainly not something to be ashamed or, even more so, to shut down the project, but an incentive to rethink the strategy and look for new points of growth.
Publishing any evaluation results is important not only to share the results with beneficiaries, partners and colleagues, but also to inform the sector about the risks, non-working solutions and to warn against mistakes. After all, when a business, including a social business, begins to grow, its team has an urgent need for effective management, data-driven decision-making, and the development of a communication strategy. These processes require not just standard business indicators such as revenue and profit, but also indicators of impact, which is one of the main results of the social enterprise.
A clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people’s lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise’s investment appeal.
Planning, conducting, and publishing a social impact assessment are primarily necessary for business itself. These processes enable the project leader and team to see that they need the project, to understand the depth and scope of the stated social problem, and to find new communication objectives, development vectors and ways to scale.
The impact assessment also directly affects the possibility of attracting additional funding: a clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people’s lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise’s investment appeal.
In addition to these quite obvious effects, it is also one more reason to be proud of yourself and the team. It is often overlooked, but motivating the team, showing the result of its work is an important task of every leader.
HOW DO YOU APPROACH ASSESSMENT?
Social impact assessment must consider all types of effects: positive and negative, immediate and delayed, expected and unpredictable. In this case, the assessment can use both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Collection methods can vary accordingly.
A generalized plan of action that could be used by social entrepreneurs of all types and scales would look like this:
• Developing a theory of change;
• Identification of social impact indicators that will need to be worked on in order to get the desired results;
• Data collection and analysis;
• Presentation of assessment results;
• Use of assessment results for management decision making.
Social impact assessment must consider all types of effects: positive and negative, immediate and delayed, expected and unpredictable.
The first point in this plan and an important tool is a theory of change — that is, a clear description of the intended relationship between activities and the results we hope to achieve. The theory of change explains the reasons why certain approaches are used and how these approaches will lead to the desired changes[16].
Working on a theory of change helps understand what problem the project is solving and, therefore, what its team intends to change. Usually at this stage the team makes a problem tree and highlights the big goal. The next step is to identify the assumptions, or conditions necessary to achieve these goals. Then comes the process of reverse mapping, that is, comparing and combining the results and compiling a list of external conditions and internal processes that are also necessary to achieve the goal. The process is completed with the identification of success indicators and activities, “interventions” that will help achieve the intermediate objectives and ultimately the goals.
First of all, the theory of change is necessary when planning activities. However, this tool is also worth “checking up” with at the growth stage, and possibly even after the closure of business — this will help to understand how the current state of affairs corresponds to the declared objectives, and what went wrong in the case of project closure.
The next step is to determine the indicators of social impact. It is worth noting here that Russia does not have a single standard or mandatory set of metrics to be assessed. Everything depends on the specifics of the social enterprise, its business model and development stage. For some social businesses, collecting and assessing 3 or 4 metrics is sufficient, while for others, with a more complex structure, 20 or even 30 quantitative and qualitative indicators may not be enough.
Russia doesn’t have a single standard or mandatory set of metrics to be assessed. Everything depends on the specifics of the enterprise, its business model and development stage.
The decision to conduct a social impact assessment for the first time and the desire to make this process a regular one are strongly influenced by the challenges in collecting data for analysis. Often organizations simply do not have sufficient time, money and human resources to interview beneficiaries and clients, systematize and analyze the information gathered. In this case, it may be advisable not to try to fit the entire evaluation process into a limited period of time, but to make it a daily or at least weekly part of the normal work process. Doing small things on a regular basis, such as compiling and analyzing questionnaires, will enable conducting impact assessment without major shocks to the team and budget.
The final stage is the publication and use of the data. Not all of the assessment results can
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