Impact Assessment
SEL is at the forefront of supporting social enterprises to measure their impact.
In 2004, SEL contributed to the Social Enterprise Partnership’s national quality and impact measurement programme by leading the adaptation and piloting of the balanced scorecard tool. Following this, in 2006 with support from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), SEL worked in partnership with University of Brighton to develop the Social IMPact measurement for Local Economies (SIMPLE) approach to social impact assessment.
Since 2008, SEL has been working on the Outcome Assessment for Social Enterprise (OASES) project, funded by Capacitybuilders. OASES aims to:
- Develop a framework to enable social enterprises to make informed decisions on which impact measurement tool is best for their organisation
- Provide social enterprise leaders with the skills to undertake impact measurement: much needed, particularly when bidding for public sector contracts.
Below (and right) is a diagram of the decision framework that is being developed through the OASES project. This will help organisations determine which tool/methodology to use when trying to capture the value of their organisation.
The quadrants describe four elements of an organisation:
- Strategic planning
- Performance measurement
- External outcomes
- External impact
Once the organisation determines the area/s they are keen to measure value in, they are able to review the tools/methodologies that are available for their selection. Furthermore they will then be able to go directly to the website of the particular tool/methodology they have selected.
As a part of the OASES project we are also holding a series of awareness raising sessions. Please contact Sabina Khan at sabina@sel.org.uk if you are interested in knowing more.