SROI: Possibilities and Pitfalls

February 15th
9:00 am to 12:00 pm
United Way of Winnipeg Learning Centre
1^st floor, 580 Main St.
CCEDNet Mbrs: $25 | Non-Members: $75

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Description

“Social Return on Investment” (SROI) has been called a boon and a bane in the evaluation world. As an analytical tool, SROI tries to measure the social value produced by community development initiatives in a way that investors and funders might more quickly understand. On the one hand, this brings to the foreground the important social change and improvement that results from work by community organizations. On the other hand, many feel SROI can be reductionist and prone to misunderstandings and financial manipulations. So, how do we, as community developers, decide whether or how to use SROI in describing an initiative’s effectiveness? Are there aspects of this approach that can be helpful in highlighting what our organizations achieve?

In this workshop, we’ll look at how this relatively new methodology developed internationally, how SROI investigations are intended to be carried out, and some of the ways in which SROI is used (and misused). Possibilities and limitations will be discussed. As well, program managers who have participated in SROI investigations will speak to the pros and cons of the methodology, so that other organizations can make evaluation decisions to reflect their specific needs and contexts. 

​By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

- Give an overview of the basic history and methodology of SROI

- Describe different ways that SROI is used in evaluation

- Balance pro and con information to assess whether or how SROI can contribute to the evaluation of their initiative

-​ Identify additional sources of information about SROI

Facilitator Bio

Margerit Roger (M.Ed.) of Eupraxia Training is a program planner and evaluator with a focus on adult education and the non-profit sector. She has worked with community-based organizations, industry, post-secondaries, labour, and the government to develop and evaluate programs for populations as diverse as production workers, newcomers, literacy learners,  instructors, and apprentices. Her current work is influenced by Theory of Change and social impact analysis, two frameworks that help describe the important “ripple effect” of organizations that support vulnerable and marginalized populations.