When it comes to understanding the value of community initiatives, describing activities and outputs tells a shallow tale.  Funders, stakeholders and constituents increasingly want to know what difference you’ve made – the impact and value of those activities.  Social Return on Investment (SROI) provides a methodological framework to better understand and enhance communications on the social value of multidimensional community interventions. 

BACKGROUND

Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a growing evaluation methodology that seeks to move the assessment process from a focus on cost alone to one that focuses on value.  By assigning financial proxies (monetary value) to social, environmental and economic outcomes, SROI creates a more complete understanding of the value generated by an initiative and can help build stronger communications (including business cases) for a wide range of community investments.

This session will introduce the SROI approach, provide some examples of its use in Canada, and outline the increasing use of SROI by agencies and funders to understand and communicate the value of their work and investments. 

PRESENTER

• Anne Miller, SiMPACT Strategy Group
  As one of the first SROI accredited practitioners in Canada, Anne leads the SROI Initiative within SiMPACT Strategy Group and is involved in both the SROI Canada Network and the SROI International Network.  She has worked on over 20 SROI analyses across Canada and carried out evaluation, research, and/or SROI work in the fields of justice, indigenous peoples studies, social housing and homelessness, community development, and public health.

Additional Resources

• SROI Canada website
• SiMPACT Srategy Group
• A Guide to Social Return on Investment by SROI Network (UK), 2012
• SROI Case Study of CCEDNet Member Momentum’s Women’s Venture Program
• CCEDNet’s webpage with many more SROI and evaluation resources

Join us at the 2013 Canadian Responsible Investment Conference

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2013 Conference flyer

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In recent years, and especially since Mohamad Yunus won the Nobel Prize in 2008, microcredit has become widely used on every continent.  According to its proponents, it can reduce poverty levels for large numbers of people, particularly women.  But there is a growing awareness that not only is microcredit not a panacea, in some cases investors are even making money off the backs of the poor, and indebtedness is growing. 

At the same time, CED and social economy organizations in Canada and around the world are developing approaches that prioritizes the financial needs (credit, savings and insurance) of the poorest in our society while increasing their control over their own development.  These approaches allow users to become members and owners of their institution.  This webinar will present two mutuals, one in Guinea and one in Québec.  

The Artisinal Fishers Savings and Loan Mutual of Guinea (MECREPAG) is an innovative financial institution that provides accessible credit to small-scale entrepreneurs from the savings of local residents, in a structure that is locally owned. 

The Microfinance Mutual (Québec), a project of the Fonds d’emprunt Québec, was created by Bill 201 that Québec’s National Assembly adopted in December.  The credit, savings and insurance mutual is the first of its kind in Canada. 

PRESENTERS

• Emilio López: Consultant and Analyst, Fonds d’emprunt Québec  
• Yvon Poirier: Chair, CCEDNet International Committee.  Yvon has been extensively involved in international collaborations and recently spent a week with MECREPAG’s Director as part of a Uniterra-sponsored study tour.

WEBINAR RECORDING

• Watch the recording of the webinar
• Download the MECREPAG presentation (pdf)
• Download the Québec Microfinance Mutual presentation (pdf)

SUPPORT

This session, part of the Canadian CED Network’s International Committee webinar series, is free thanks to a partnership with Uniterra

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Fonds d’emprunt Québec website
• Bill 201 passed by Québec's National Assembly
• Mutuelle de microfinance press release (in French)
• Media clippings on the Microfinance Mutual (in French)

If you are working on community-based research, engaged in scholarship, academic enterprise, knowledge mobilization, implementation science and research utilization, science shops and service-learning, this is your conference!

About the Conference:

The Association for Non-Profit and Social Economy Research (ANSER/ARES) is a dynamic growing association that is organizing its sixth annual conference as part of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. ANSER brings together leading academic researchers, practitioners, consultants, policymakers and community organizations from Canada and internationally to discuss current and emergent issues, debates and challenges in the fields of civil society, social economy, and nonprofit research and practice. Join us for what promises to be an engaging and provocative conference. The theme for the sixth conference in Victoria is: Nonprofits and the Social Economy @the Edge.

The conference is an opportunity to welcome and explore new voices and perspectives, including those who are far from centres of power and influence due to economic, health, geography and other factors, and indigenous peoples whose languages and cultures are endangered. It is a call for the social sciences and humanities to explore these issues of inclusivity, marginalization and diversity and suggest innovative solutions and models for response. Within this context, nonprofits and other social economy organizations are well poised to lead these discussions.

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