CS
Social Impact Measurement Case studies
The Cambridgeshire Community Foundation (CCF) is an independent charity established in 2004 to provide grant making and fund management service to their donors, which include; individuals, businesses, local authorities and charitable trusts. CCF aims to make a real difference to the quality of life for local people through their grantmaking which has amounted to, in partnership with other donors, over £2 million distributed to over seven hundred community projects across Cambridgeshire. Voluntary and Community Action East Cambridgeshire (VCAEC) provides support services for local voluntary, community and charitable organisations. The services provided include training, networking opportunities, newsletters, volunteer support, promote good practice, policy guidance and more. What is social accounting? Social Accounting allows organisations to clarify, measure and evidence the benefits they create for stakeholders; to the environment and to the local economy. Social Accounting enables an organisation to articulate to funders, donors and other stakeholders the value created by the activities undertaken that can not be financially measured or quantified by output criteria. It helps organisations to improve their accountability to, and relationships with stakeholders and provides the information organisations need to improve their social, environmental
and economic performance. There are a number of social accounting toolkits available, including the Social Audit Network’s Social Accounting and Audit (www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk); the new economics foundation’s Proving and Improving (www.proveandimprove. org); and a number of smaller, bespoke tools that have been developed for individual organisations or sectors. While the detail of each of these processes differs, there are some key steps which are common to most Social Accounting Methods. These are: 1. Setting up Clarifying the benefits sought, resources available and people responsible 2. Aspirations Identifying the changes the organisation is trying to achieve and the services and products it will provide in order to achieve these changes 3. Stakeholders Identifying the organisation’s key stakeholders, e.g. staff, funders, service users, and getting their input into the process. 4. Data collection Designing and implementing a data collection plan 5. Reporting Collecting, analysing and presenting the data gathered in formats appropriate for the planned audiences, and then learning from the process and implementing any required changes