Social Impact Measurement (SIM) experiencing and future Directions for the third sector organisations in the east of England.

Exploring ways to measure impact is not a new focus for the third sector or social enterprises, but one that is becoming more of a concern as organisations look for ways to improve what they do and demonstrate their impact to others. In part this requires a shift in thinking from
measuring outputs to measuring outcomes, and the challenge is to find ways of measuring the softer elements related to social inclusion. There is also interest from outside of organisations with pressure from philanthropic funds and public service commissioners to find ways of making
their decisions on how resources are allocated.
Social Impact Measurement (SIM) is the process by which an organisation provides evidence that its services are providing real and tangible benefits to people or the environment (SEEE 2009). Issue 2 of the EEDA Social Impact Measurement (SIM) project examines a range of SIM
models currently adopted by Third Sector Organisations and social enterprises. The aim is “Ultimately …. to gain a better understanding of the various social impact measurement models” (EEDA ITT 2009-082). Through the study of the experiences of a set of organisations, this
research will examine why organisations are measuring impact, how they are doing this, the challenges they face and how these can be overcome. This will involve a review and evaluation of a wide range of tools used by third sector organisations to measure the impact of the work
they do. It will provide guidance to assist Third Sector Organisations in selecting approaches to measuring impact and help public authorities to assess the claims made by those who are using impact measurement tools.
The research has involved a review of the literature and over 40 different methods commonly in use in the UK. Following the development of questionnaires, interviews were carried out with 40 third sector organisations, 32 of whom had carried out social impact measurement. A further 10
organisations or individuals providing training in social impact measurement to organisations in the East of England Region were also interviewed. Data was also collected on the issues raised by the attendees of two training courses on social impact measurement, one covering Social Return On Investment (led by Kate Lee) and one covering Social Accounting and Audit (led by John Pearce) each of which had 12 participants. Finally feedback from participants of two
workshops, each with approximately 50 attendees, has been integrated

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In two parts: Joining the dots; Joining the dotds 2.