social investment market in the region.
The method used by the experts is the Social Return on Investment, or SROI. The Our Future Foundation is adapting it to Russian conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of impact investments. The data from this study helps investors and project managers understand how effectively funds are spent to create a social result.
The foundation has been applying the social impact assessment approach for 15 years, making decisions to fund socially transformative projects in the form of interest-free loans[27].
Natalia Zvereva, director of the Our Future Foundation, notes that in 2022 the discussion of approaches to assessing the social impact intensified. First of all, this is related to the discussion of the specifics of social enterprises of various legal forms. Competencies in determining the approach to social impact assessment at the level of professional standards in the field of social entrepreneurship are important.
“Our experience shows that there is no universal methodology for assessing social impact, because there are differences in approaches for enterprises of different legal forms, different types of activities. For example, it is difficult to evaluate sports and social service projects using the same approach. As part of the Aksel.Sotszakaz accelerator, we saw confirmation of this thesis. The emphasis on industry specifics is one of the important trends in the development of this topic,” says Natalia Zvereva.
Another trend is the attempt to simplify the SROI method, to separate stakeholder approaches to determining the social impact. “Assessment of the social impact for the purpose of receiving state support and for the purpose of attracting investment may have different criteria. For example, in the first case, the principle of “social impact assessment in exchange for a measure of support” can be used. The topic of social impact assessment approaches is also relevant due to the fact that the quality of people's lives remains the number one priority in any initiative,” the expert explains.
Alexey Kuzmin, CEO of Process Consulting, received an award in the Personal Contribution to the Development of Social Projects and Programs Evaluation category for his development of the project and program evaluation market, active participation in evaluation method development programs, and educational activities on his professional blog.
Alexey Kuzmin has worked as an organizational development and program evaluation consultant since 1987. Member of the American Evaluation Association since 1999, member of the Russian Association of Program and Policy Evaluators. He has supervised the evaluation of more than 100 programs and projects in 20 countries.
What important things happened in the field of evaluation in Russia and the world in 2022? According to award winner Alexey Kuzmin, one of the notable events was the opening of the International Evaluation Academy[28].
“This is a global movement of volunteers seeking to increase the impact of evaluation on meaningful decision-making, the professionalization of evaluation, and its transformative impact. The academy is focused on innovation in the way evaluation is designed and used to solve complex economic, social, and environmental sustainability problems. The academy's board and advisory council includes several dozen specialists from all continents. It is planned to support fellows who will conduct development in priority areas for the academy.
I think that the academy has every chance to play an important role in the development of evaluation in the world,” believes Alexey Kuzmin.
If we talk about significant events in our country, the expert notes the PROOTSENKA club, whose online meetings are held monthly under the motto “Interesting Conversation in Good Company[29].”
“The club's mission is to support a community of practitioners dedicated to integrating evaluation into the work of socially oriented organizations. Nothing is required to participate in the meetings except the desire. Education, level of training in evaluation, and practical experience are not important. The organizers of the club strive to choose topics that are important from a practical point of view, to give participants new information, to use a variety of formats of work, to maintain an informal positive atmosphere,” explains Alexey Kuzmin.
Elena Avramenko was awarded in the Development of Methodology of Social Projects Evaluation category for the development and elaboration of methods for economic assessment of social impact and a series of publications in the Positive Changes Journal.
Elena Avramenko is one of the authors of the methodological recommendations “Development of a model for assessing the socio-economic Impact of NPO projects[30].” The guide describes possible strategies for conducting socio-economic analysis of the impact of NPO projects at the level of describing the steps for “manual” calculations (on savings of state funds, characteristics of the quality of life of beneficiaries, etc.).
Elena Avramenko has been a regular contributor to the Positive Changes Journal since its first issue in December 2021[31].
What set the vector for the development of the impact assessment methodology for all of 2022? Such an event, according to the winner of the prize, was the presentation of the Nobel Prize to three scientists: Guido Imbens, David Card, and Joshua Angrist, “for their methodological contributions to cause and effect analysis.” The methodology proposed by the scientists makes it possible to find variations in the data of a “natural” experiment, which can give reliable results in assessing the influence of factors on social and economic characteristics.
Also, the Global impact Investing Network (GIIN) has seen great progress throughout 2022 in the development of impact assessment tools and methodology, according to the expert.
“According to GIIN, the impact investments market was $1.164 trillion in 2022. In the fall of 2022, GIIN launched Impact Lab, a first-of-its-kind industry initiative that will conduct groundbreaking research and development on behalf of the entire market to better understand impact effectiveness and the relationship between impact, risk and financial return. Impact Lab is designed for collaboration between leading investors and stakeholders to take the market to a new level of sophistication, while creating and accumulating an impact information base for informed decision making,” says Elena Avramenko.
Working with partner organizations' field trials, the lab will introduce the science, methods, and calculations needed to create impact performance analysis tools that will form the basis for more reliable impact analysis. The founding partners of Impact Lab were: GIIN, Temasek investment company, Visa Foundation, EQT foundation as investor and incubator.
Moscow Toy factory was recognized the Best Case of Introduction of Evaluation in the Activities of a Social Enterprise. The mechanics of the project is learning how to create cotton toys. The target audience of the project is women over 50, unemployed, mothers of children with disabilities, mothers of large families. A description of the case can be found on the pages of the Positive Changes Journal[32].
Svetlana Modnova, founder and head of the Moscow Toy factory, highlighted the main points of 2022 and noted what the organization has achieved thanks to the evaluation.
“In 2022 we produced about 10,600 toys, won two grants from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives to promote our projects in the regions, and launched the cotton toy museum,
Gladkikh, N. & Vyatkina, Y. (2022). Social Impact is Always the Cornestone of Social Entrepreneurship. Interview with Natalia Zvereva. Positive Changes, 2(3), 6–14.
International Evaluation Academy. (2022). Retrieved from: https://ieac.global/. (accessed 10.12.2022).
#PROOCENKU Alliance. (2022). Retrieved from: http://www.proocenku.club/. (accessed: 10.12.2022).
Avramenko, E., Gladkikh, N., Vanchikova, S. & Vainer, V. (2021). Development of a model for assessing the socio-economic Impact of NPO projects. Methodological guidelines. Moscow: Gladway Foundation of Development of Media Projects and Social Programs. Retrieved from: https://impact.ngo.ru/library/view/53. (accessed: 10.12.2022).
Avramenko, E. (2022). The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics: a new step in accessing the social impact. Positive Changes, 1(1), 58–67.
Zakharova, E., Gorbunov, S. & Modnova, S. (2022). Case of the Issue: Social and Economic Impact Research of the Russian Toy Manufacture Project. Positive Changes, 1(1), 30–43.
