Capturing the social value of Carers Trust’s national network of carer organisations
PROCESS
Social Return On Investment
Carers Trust is a national charity working to support and improve the lives of unpaid carers. The Carers Trust network is made up over 120 Network Partners across the UK, each supporting carers locally/regionally.
Like many frontline charitable organisations, Network Partners share the challenge of finding low-cost solutions to capture and communicate their vast and multi-faceted impact to funders and commissions, while also operating with limited capacity.
Carers Trust commissioned Civil Society Consulting to develop a Social Return on Investment (SROI) ‘calculator’. Regardless of a Network Partner’s organisational model and specific set of services offered, the calculator can estimate the SROI ratio of carers centres using basic count data. This tool enables organisations supporting unpaid carers to get a valid SROI ratio, without the costs of doing a lengthy SROI study.
With evaluation and impact assessment expertise, and extensive experience working with organisations supporting carers, CSC developed a robust and credible SROI methodology to capture the social value that Network Partners generate for carers, the people they care for, and stakeholders/partners (e.g. national and local charities, local authorities, schools).
Read more about the calculator here.
Our Approach
We worked with twelve Network Partners, diverse in size and geography, to understand the social value that each Network Partner creates, and to test/pilot the calculator. We consulted stakeholders using a range of methods, including interviews with staff, carers, and those being cared for, surveys, and desk-based research. Through this process, we developed a flexible calculator toolkit that compliments the data collection and impact reporting practices of Network Partners.
THEMES
Carers
Health Systems
Project Brief
We were invited to present the SROI calculator and toolkit to the network at Carers Trust’s annual conference in September 2022; you can view the summary postcard below.
