Successful, high impact, social value projects need to be rooted in communities.
They need to follow Social Value UK’s eight principles – bookended by involving stakeholders and being responsive.
Impact measurement reporting has to be flexible enough to report at local, regional, national and global level to justify funding.
What is social value?
UN Sustainability Goals
The Bristol Accord
Social value is the quantification of the relative importance that people place on the changes they experience in their lives. Some, but not all this value is captured in market prices. It is important to consider and measure this social value from the perspective of those affected by an organisation’s work.
Examples of social value might be the value we experience from increasing our confidence, or from living next to a community park. These things are important to us, but are not commonly expressed or measured in the same way that financial value is.
Social value is the description of how a project creates value and a ratio that states how much social value in monetary terms is created for every £1 of funding
‘If £1 is spent on the delivery of services, can that same £1 be used to also produce wider benefit to the community?’
Public services (Social Value Act) 2012
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The key features of the Social Value Engine (SVE)
AGILE
The SVE has a ‘front end’ to allow you to quickly enter the minimum amount of data required to conduct an options appraisal on competing projects. For successful projects the data entered in Agile is carried forward into Extensive.
EXTENSIVE
This is the core of the SVE. It allows you to forecast, measure, and report on your Social Return on Investments (SROI). It is an extensive suite of software that supports the SROI aspects during the full lifecycle of your investment project. It includes ‘deflators’, to ensure you do not overclaim. The functionality provided is re-accredited every two years by Social Value International.
FORECASTING
This facility allows the generation of a ‘locked down’ version of your project that has been approved and signed off. At this point you will move the project to ‘evaluation’ to allow you to track its projects over time, monitoring and managing the outcomes you expect to realise for your stakeholders.
EVALUATION
This allows you to enter the ‘real life’ data you collect and to compare it with your forecast on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. It allows narrative entry to explain both variances: both where expected outcomes are not being achieve and where unforeseen benefits, or dis-benefits, are being realised.
PROGRAMME
This function allows individual projects to be dynamically combined into programmes. This might be my geography (regional, national, global), by organisation (within your supply chain) or by theme (mental health, employment or disability).
The benefits of using the SVE
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Assurance:
The SVE is the only UK Software product accredited by Social Value International (SVI). SVI spans 25 countries, including the UK. This provides confidence that the software has been rigorously validated by an independent authority and it will be kept aligned with emerging good practice.
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Transparency:
The SVE curate and provide access to ~350 academically, peer-reviewed, financial proxies. They are regularly reviewed updated. Hyperlinks are provided to the original research to allow complete transparency.
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Localisation:
The SVE allows you to add your own financial proxies. As SVUK says: “The process of adding your own custom Inputs, outputs, outcomes, indicators and valuations is integral to conducting impact management in line with the SVI Principles”. For example, valuations derived from involving stakeholders, allows projects to be deeply rooted in local communities.
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Ease of use:
Because the SVE is fully aligned with SVUK’s principles your SVUK accredited consultants will find it entirely congruent with the best practice training they have received in achieving accreditation. Aligning the technology with the experienced professionals who use it is of critical importance in moving social value to the mainstream.
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Access to skilled resources:
The SVE team are skilled professionals with decades of experience in this field. They can train and support you in the best use of the SVE. Our objective is that certified social value practitioners are able to use the SVE effectively without external support. However, where resources are scarce, or for large / complex projects, SVUK have 60 certified consultants, spread across the UK, available to help.
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Ease of reporting:
The SVE can report using two globally recognised frameworks, and projects can flip-flop between the two. One is the UN’s 17 Sustainability Goals, the other is the Bristol Accord. The SVE can flex to incorporate other, local, regional, or national reporting frameworks.
The Engine Room
The Social Value Engine (SVE) is not just a tool to calculate the social value you are generating. When you join the SVE, you gain access to The Engine Room, where we help you get the most out of your social value journey.
Free attendance at themed workshops on key aspects of social value practice, e.g. data audits, outcome setting
Regular refresher training for licence holders
Blogs and thought pieces
Our tailored offers
For small organisations (under 20 employees)
£1,250 PA + VAT
Individual licence, one year agreement
£1,125 PA + VAT
Individual licence, two year agreement
£1,000 PA + VAT
Individual licence, three year agreement
We’re delighted to offer small organisations the opportunity to access all the features of the SVE at a reduced cost. We recognise small organisations’ crucial role in the UK’s economic revival, and we’re committed to supporting your journey with an affordable social value solution tailored to your needs.
To see the full list of features and benefits of the Social Value Engine, please visit this page.
For medium and large organisations (over 20 employees)
Single licence
£1,875 pa + VAT
Licences (bundle discount)
£7,500 pa + VAT (Cost per licence £1,500)
Licences (bundle discount)
£14,000 pa + VAT(Cost per licence £1,400)
Licences (bundle discount)
£18,000 pa + VAT (Cost per licence £1,200)
Our pricing strategy is designed with collaboration in mind. It caters to significant social investment projects that often need a driving force — a ‘convenor’, such as a Council, an NHS Trust, or a large government department, to bring everyone together.
Our licensing offers:
- Customisable priorities: Integrate your specific priorities into the SVE at no extra cost. This flexibility allows for reporting against the UN Sustainability Goals while tailoring the system to your needs.
- Flexible license deployment: Licenses are fully functional and can be shared or transferred among your SME and VCSE partner organisations, ensuring everyone benefits.
- Functionality for suppliers: Provide your commercial suppliers with the ability to report on projects you assign, enhancing collaboration without incurring additional costs.
- Customisable dashboard (reduced-cost paid feature): Get a tailored dashboard to visualise the overarching impact of your activities. This brings the big picture into focus, making it easier to track progress and outcomes.
- Free of charge, regular training: We offer ongoing training sessions designed to meet the diverse needs of your team and partners. This ensures everyone makes the most out of our platform.
To see a full list of features and Benefits and Features of the Social Value Engine, please visit this page.
A 10% reduction is available for a two-year agreement
A 20% reduction is available for a three-year agreement
Free for one year and for a single project. Then £250 plus VAT paid once, monthly in arrears, for subsequent projects.
We are keen to support Independent Social Value Consultants who have taken the time and trouble to achieve professional certification through SVUK. We believe we can offer you a number of benefits:
- Providing your customers with ‘double level’ confidence in their projects, a UK-based SVI Practitioner using SVI certified software.
- Low risk: free training on the SVE, the opportunity to test that the software meets your needs for some of your projects, and an opportunity to deploy it commercially for one year with one project – at no cost.
- Cost effective: A set price for any additional projects with a one-month payment window from project inception to preserve your cash flow.
- A growth opportunity: The opportunity to secure additional, pre-qualified business in your local area without the need for sales and marketing investment.
Accreditations
To measure social value, the eight principles of Social Value as set out by Social Value UK and Social Value International need to be heeded. The Social Value Engine has been designed to take each principle into consideration and has been accredited by Social Value International. Download our accreditation certificate. Social Value Engine is also proud to be a ‘Social Value UK Pioneer’ and ‘Social Value UK Partner’, reflecting our commitment to promoting transparent, responsible and reliable social value accounting. Download our accreditation certificate.
Our Clients
Meet the Team
Ivan Annibal
Ivan invented the Social Value Engine. He runs a social business which focuses on planning things, doing things and measuring whether they have happened. He has worked in economic development for over 30 years. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Economic Development and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Lincoln International Business School.
Rab Campbell
Rab is responsible for growing the use of the SVE and creating a vibrant user community that influences its future development. He is a multi-decade experienced digital professional and has served as the elected chair of the trade body in Scotland, ScotlandIS. He has worked in a variety of leadership roles in large corporations and digital start-ups. Rab is a strong supporter of "tech for good", in particular empowering disadvantage young people to use tech effectively to live fulfilling lives.
Conor McGale
Conor works with organisations on the island of Ireland in helping them measure their Social Value, irrespective of the size or type of organisation. He has nearly 30 years of Project Management, Evaluation and Strategic Planning experience in a wide range of industries. He has also worked with a number of key funders in evaluating their programmes and groups they support. Conor is a firm advocate of the Community & Voluntary sector’s work, particularly how organisations can demonstrate their impact & effectiveness working with some of the most disadvantaged communities and client groups in today’s society.
Dr Hayden Bird
Hayden' s role is working with clients to promote the practical application of the Social Value Engine. He has over 16 years’ experience in applied evaluation and consultancy, with an overarching interest in community development. His earlier projects involved research within the criminal justice system, but more recent interests include regeneration in rural and coastal places, ageing, social prescribing, and mental health recovery. Hayden also volunteers with Lincolnshire Rural Support Network, a service which supports farming communities and contributes to a service user forum for Lincolnshire’s talking therapies service. In his spare time, he enjoys walking by the sea.
Sean Inglis
Sean has over 20 years software sales experience. His first exposure to social value was whilst working for The Homeless World Cup Charity, who use football as a catalyst for improving the lives of those experiencing homelessness. In this role he forged strong relationships with several 'tech for good' organisations and this cemented his belief in the potential value of technology in improving people's lives in a really meaningful way. His current role focuses on growing our user ecosystem and increasing the adoption of the Social Value Engine.
Our Story
The Social Value Engine was jointly developed by Rose Regeneration and East Riding of Yorkshire Council in response to the Public Services (Social Value Act 2012), which requires public bodies to think about how they can secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits. The engine works alongside and has incorporated Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology and the seven Social Value UK principles.
The Social Value Engine has been developed to give our clients complete control of their social value calculations. Behind the tool is a team whose collective experience in social value totals more than 30 years. We are passionate about measuring social value for its own sake and recording those so-called intangible benefits. We also embed the theory and best practice of social value into every aspect of our training and support offer.
