Ask what a training programme, an employment project or a health campaign has actually given back to society, and the answer usually stops at the number of people who took part. We know how many people were reached, but what changed in their lives often remains unclear. Investors, funders, public bodies and boards now want to see that answer backed by real evidence.
Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a method for measuring and reporting that answer. It describes the social, environmental and economic change created by an activity from the point of view of the people affected, measures that change and puts a monetary value on it. The result is a ratio. A ratio of 1:4, for example, shows that every 1 unit invested creates roughly 4 units of social value.
Where Did SROI Come From?
The method first appeared in 2000, in the work of a US fund that invested in social enterprises. The Guide to SROI, published in the UK in 2009 with government support and updated in 2012, gave the method the standard form it has today. Its development is now led by Social Value International, which has more than 4,000 members in 65 countries. The organisation runs its accreditation exams in six languages, including Turkish, and around 2,000 people are accredited practitioners.
The Eight Principles of Social Value
SROI analysis is built on eight core principles. In 2026 a new set was published that brings together the standards for applying each principle. It includes, for the first time, standards on transparency and on verifying the result.
- Involve stakeholders: The views of the people who experience the change sit at the centre of the analysis.
- Understand what changes: All outcomes are considered, positive and negative, intended and unintended.
- Value the things that matter: Outcomes that have no market price are expressed through financial proxies.
- Only include what is material: The analysis covers the outcomes that would affect a decision-maker’s view.
- Do not overclaim: Only the change that happened because of the organisation’s contribution is counted.
- Be transparent, verify the result and be responsive: Assumptions are stated clearly, findings are independently checked and the results are used to inform decisions.
How Is an SROI Analysis Carried Out?
An analysis can be evaluative, looking back at a programme that has finished, or a forecast for a programme that is being planned. Either way, it follows six stages:
- Scope and stakeholders: The boundaries and timeframe of the analysis are set, and the stakeholder groups affected by the change are identified.
- Theory of change: The chain from inputs to outputs, and from outputs to outcomes, is mapped together with stakeholders.
- Evidence and value: Indicators are chosen for each outcome, data is collected and a monetary value is set for each outcome.
- Establishing impact: The change that would have happened anyway, the contribution of others and the way the effect fades over time are all taken out of the calculation.
- Calculating the ratio: Future values are discounted to today, the total value is divided by the investment and the assumptions are tested through sensitivity analysis.
- Reporting and using the results: The results are shared with stakeholders and used to improve the design of the programme.
To read the ratio properly, you need to look at the assumptions behind it. The ratios of two analyses carried out with different scopes and assumptions cannot be compared directly. What makes an SROI study credible is that its assumptions are written down clearly and can be independently verified.
Why Is Social Impact Measurement in the Spotlight?
On 28 September 2026, ISO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published ISO/UNDP 53001, the first international management system standard for the Sustainable Development Goals. The standard asks organisations to identify their sustainable development priorities, set measurable objectives and track their performance over time. Measuring social impact is therefore becoming part of how organisations are managed.
Public procurement is moving in the same direction. In the UK, social value carries a weighting of at least 10% in central government tenders. Sustainability reporting in Europe is raising expectations for data on employees, supply chains, local communities and consumers. Impact investors and funders are also asking for evidence-based results from the programmes they support. In Turkey, foundations, municipalities and companies have started to publish SROI reports, and the community of practitioners grows every year.
CFE Certification’s 2-day SROI (Social Return on Investment) training explains the core logic of the SROI methodology through the steps of defining social impact and making it measurable. The course covers identifying stakeholders, building a theory of change and reporting with an evidence-based data set. Participants gain a clear understanding of how to express their organisation’s social value in plain, meaningful terms of impact. For course dates and booking, please contact us at training@cfecert.co.uk.