“Importantly being a smaller organisation without the analytic capacity of other organisations, we wanted to use something where the social impact ‘economics’ had been done. This allows us to free up our resources in other areas of evaluation and social impact.“

Would you give me a quick overview of the Wayside Chapel organisation?

Wayside Chapel has been providing support to the most marginalised people in and around the streets of Sydney since 1964.

Today, under the banner of ‘Love over Hate’, Wayside provides a supportive environment where those that are homeless, dealing with mental health challenges, socially isolated or disconnected, can come and be part of a judgement-free community.

Practically, Wayside runs two community services centres that provide a range of immediate supports such as showers, low-cost food, emergency clothing as well as social activities, mental health support and care coordination.

The Wayside Chapel has recently developed a youth program, called The Wingspan Project, which supports young people to gain employment at its social enterprise cafe, Heart Café. All surplus funds go back into the program to support young people in need.

Why did you choose the ASVB Calculator to measure your social value?

We have a simple mission of creating community; but within the simplicity there is complexity, in what does that look like, and how do we evaluate our social impact?

Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB) provides us with a starting tool. Importantly being a smaller organisation without the analytic capacity of other organisations, we wanted to use something where the social impact ‘economics’ had been done.

This allows us to free up our resources in other areas of evaluation and social impact.

How does our tool help your team or organisation achieve its objectives?

We are currently rolling this out across the organisation program by program.

To date, we have used it as a forecasting model to help set up a new youth employment program we have developed called “The Wingspan Project”.

ASVB has produced a model aligned to our theory of change and we will use this model and compare it to actual results. This will allow us to measure the value of the program as well as evaluate our original assumptions to see how they align.

How do you and your team currently use the ASVB?

As a forecasting tool. By the end of this current financial year, we will assess the last six months of outcomes for one or maybe two of our current programs.

Describe your experience in using the Value Calculator tool in practice to create Value Statements?

For now, it has been more of a model experience. We will use this to project the impact of a program and then at the end of that program we will report against the actual outcomes.

What has changed for your organisation as a result of measuring your social value with the ASVB?

We are focusing much more on what the specific goals and values are of a project upfront before it is developed.

What are the main benefits of using the ASVB in your opinion?

Easy to use, you don’t need a lot of data experience or understanding of social economic indicators.

What is your advice to others who might be considering our impact measurement solution?

The tool is a perfect place to start.

It has limitations, but so do other methods. But you can be flexible with the tool to account for certain conditions. For example, the use of averages for Wayside Chapel undervalues the impact for our cohort of people as we are dealing with the most vulnerable chronic homeless.

What we are able to do though, is provide background context and explain the data in a way that ensures people understand that the value created, is likely to reflect lower values in terms of numbers, given the complexity of the cohort of people we work with, and the services delivered.

How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend?

A simple economic tool to understanding social impact.

Interview with Lee Cooper – Head of Innovation, Strategy & Social Impact, Wayside Chapel, Sydney

Further Reading

Learn how to calculate your social value in 3 steps…

“It is widely recognised by various governments around the world, with whom we work. It is simple to use and based on rigorous economic analysis of large populations.”

Would you give me a quick overview of your organisation?

Stronger Brains builds better lives for people impacted by toxic stress from abuse, neglect and other adverse childhood experiences. We do this measurably and scientifically in two ways – using personalised, digital, neuroplasticity programs to restore healthy brain function; and through personalised mentoring and empowerment programs to address any other impediments to learning, employment, good mental and physical health and a better life.

 

Why did you choose the ASVB Calculator to measure your social value?

It is widely recognised by various governments around the world, with whom we work. It is simple to use and based on rigorous economic analysis of large populations.

How does our tool help your team or organisation achieve its objectives?

It provides independent economic analysis of the social benefit we deliver.

How do you and your team currently use the ASVB?

We are currently using it to evaluate our work with the Australian Federal Government, Department of Social Services, in relation to improving outcomes for young VET students at risk of long-term unemployment.

What are the main benefits of using the ASVB in your opinion?

The main benefits are being able to quantify to customers the value of our work in financial terms which should justify further funding/investment and lead to growth and ultimately greater social impact.

What is your advice to others who might be considering our impact measurement solution?

We would encourage all organisations to use it and to be accountable for what they do.

How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend?

It’s a simple tool, underpinned by robust economic analysis, used by many governments around the world, to quantify the economic value of social impact initiatives such as reducing homelessness, recidivism or unemployment.

Final comments or feedback:

As taxpayers, we should all want to see that our tax dollars are spent effectively and efficiently. To date, governments and social service providers have not been accountable to the taxpayer in terms of measuring the social or financial impact of what they do and the decisions they make to allocate taxpayer dollars to various service providers. We can all do better and as the baby-boomers retire and there are fewer taxpayers to support social services, the need for accountability will only increase.

Interview with Wendy Haigh – Co-Founder and Director Stronger Brains

Learn more about Stronger Brains

Further Reading

Learn how to calculate your social value in 3 steps…

“Give it a crack and see how it performs, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised! Talk to other users as you take the journey.”

Would you give me a quick overview of your organisation? 

Unity Housing is an Adelaide-based, not-for-profit Community Housing Provider. We provide a broad range of housing options across South Australia. Our tenants include people affected by homelessness, older people and people living with disability, refugees and asylum seekers, people leaving the criminal justice system, women and families affected by domestic violence, and people experiencing mental health issues and other challenges. We also provide homes for people who simply cannot afford appropriate housing in the private rental market.

Why did you choose the ASVB Calculator to measure your social value?

We looked at the range of models and approaches to measuring social value that were being used both domestically and internationally. While Unity already collected data to meet the requirements of quality assurance/management bodies such as the National Regulatory System for Community Housing; National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA); DCSI reports; Board and management reporting etc. there was a need to have a broader approach that gave ‘hard’ data and was both rigorous and cost-effective to use. The ASVB calculator met these criteria.

How does our tool help your team or organisation achieve its objectives?

It gives us data in a form that is not readily available through any other model or ‘off the shelf’ program. It also monetises the data in a way that we simply would not have the ability to do without the calculator.

While Social Return on Investment (SROI) offers more detailed outputs and other data our organisation simply does not have the capacity to invest in SROI. The ASVB offer a realistic alternative that is still sufficiently rigorous.

How do you and your team currently use the ASVB?

We initially took one program and trialled that. We learnt a lot along the way and then had it independently verified. We then moved on to other programs within the organisation. We now have a rolling plan to gather all the required information and enter it into the calculator.

We have started using the data for planning purposes and to raise awareness of the real social impact we are having.

Describe your experience in using the Value Calculator tool in practice to create Value Statements?

It was difficult to start with. We formed an internal working group that included representatives from each part of the organisation. With the first program we trialled, the cohort we tried to measure was too small. The next one was too big and the one that worked was just right.

Now we understand the linkages between the outcome; measuring what changes as well as the cost inputs. It is now much easier to use.

What has changed for your organisation as a result of measuring your social value with the ASVB?

We have a stronger culture of data collection. We are now able to confidently provide accurate data to our board/executive that is in a form they have not previously had. ASVB data has also been used to brief new ministers on the outcomes we are achieving for our tenants.

What are the main benefits of using the ASVB in your opinion?

The main benefit is that we are able to improve the services to our tenants knowing that it is based on good data. Once the inputs are understood and you are confident they are accurate then it produces rigorous data that can be used to inform all sorts of decision-making.

The cost of collecting and entering the data is affordable for an organisation of our size. We don’t need a team of data people just a small group who can extract what is needed. The price structure for the licence is also fair and reasonable.

What is your advice to others who might be considering our impact measurement solution?

Give it a crack and see how it performs, you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised! Talk to other users as you take the journey.

How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend?

A way of doing cost-benefit analysis without having to do all the critical background work necessary to produce reliable data.

Final comments or feedback:

We are about to enter our second year of using the ASVB calculator. It gets better the more you use it.

Interview with Michael White – Community Strategy Manager Unity Housing

Further Reading

Learn how to calculate your social value in 3 steps…

The Australian Social Value Bank’s (ASVB) wellbeing values are at the forefront of social impact valuation, which in the property sector translates to being able to place a robust value on the impact of social sustainability outcomes.

To help measure their progress towards achieving its sustainability goals, Landcom has partnered with the ASVB.

As the NSW Government’s land and property development organisation, Landcom partners with the private sector to create quality residential communities that demonstrate leadership in sustainable urban development. Their vision is to create innovative and productive places that demonstrate global standards of liveability, resilience, inclusion, affordability and environmental quality. Through their work, they aim to create a legacy of sustainable places for future generations.

Landcom’s approach to Sustainability is guided by their Sustainable Places Strategy,  and includes four leadership goals that address their role in delivering environmental, social, economic, and governance leadership for the built environment.

Each pillar has a long-term leadership goal, and short-term performance targets. The pillars are:

• Climate Resilient Places: Enabling net positive environmental impacts
• Healthy & Inclusive Places: Creating the world’s most liveable urban communities
• Productive Places: Enabling 30,000 enduring jobs
• Accountable & Collaborative Places: Driving accountability and performance along the value chain

To help measure the impact of some of their key initiatives and programs, specifically social sustainability outcomes, Landcom is now using the ASVB’s leading-edge wellbeing values and cost-benefit analysis calculator.

Landcom’s Senior Manager Sustainability, Lauren Kajewski, said “The ASVB helps us to understand and communicate the social impact of our work, such as the benefits of our Skills Exchange pathway to employment initiative.”

“By hosting the delivery of this world-class training, we can ensure the Australian property sector is at the cutting-edge of social impact measurement. Using a shared approach will allow us to compare programs and calculate the combined impact of our programs and across the sector.

“It’s also great to see Lendlease using the ASVB. We look forward to seeing others in the development and property industry take it up.”

Since partnering with the ASVB, Landcom has rolled out training to key staff and introduced it to some of their community partners. Landcom is also hosting a Social Impact Measurement Masterclass, presented by ASVB partner and global leader in social policy evaluation, Daniel Fujiwara.

Over time, Landcom plans to develop further social values to add to the knowledge bank so that they, and others, can use the ASVB to measure more of their programs.

“We are so pleased to have Landcom on board, and taking a leadership role across their sector,” said Min Seto, Executive Officer of the ASVB. “We know this is the beginning of the ASVB becoming the standard in social impact valuation in Australia.”

For more details on the Social Impact Measurement Training Series 2018

Social Impact Measurement Training 2018

Recently, the ASVB were fortunate enough to sit down with one of our current Grant Recipient’s, Paul Tommasini, CEO of inCommunity, to ask him about his organisation’s experience of using the ASVB.

ASVB Q1: We met you at the National Housing Conference in 2017, was this the first time you had heard about the ASVB?
Paul: Yeah it was. You had a booth set-up and I was really impressed with what the ASVB had to offer, I could see the value of it right away. After the conference I was really keen to use the ASVB so after the Christmas break and Board approval, I signed up; we we’re lucky enough to be eligible for the Grants Program.

ASVB Q2: What programs have you used the ASVB to value the social impact of?
Paul: We have mainly used it to measure the impact of our brand new program, the Tenancy Skills Institute. The Tenancy Skills Institute is a competency-based training program that is delivered to current or prospective clients who are having difficulty entering the private rental market. It creates a win-win situation for both tenants and property managers, by teaching tenants the skills needed to maintain a tenancy. We have also used the ASVB to value our Specialist Homelessness Services.

ASVB Q3: The Tenancy Skills Institute (TSI) sounds like such a great program that will help meet a real need. How has the ASVB helped you with that program and are you using it for anything else?
Paul: Thanks, it is a great program! We are really excited about it and see great potential for growth. We’ve used the ASVB specifically to determine the social return on investment for the TSI and to quantify the social impact created. We had to supply this in a report to the QLD Government as it is a Government funded program, and it helps us justify how we are spending our allocated funds. We are aiming to use the ASVB more over the next year across a number of our programs and we hope to implement the tool into our Annual Report, so we can report back on organisational social impact and hold ourselves accountable.

ASVB Q4: We can’t wait to see the overall impact your organisation is having. Was there anything that surprised you when you first started using the ASVB?
Paul: My assumption was that it wasn’t going to be user friendly, however once I started using the tool I realised it was so easy to use! My perception from using other tools that are available on the market, I believed that it would be quite arduous, but five minutes later I had robust results. If I had used the ASVB Surveys upfront, and not our own, the data would be tailored for the tool and it would make it even easier to use.

ASVB Q5: We are so happy to hear you think it is user friendly, one of our main goals of the ASVB is to make social impact measurement simple. If someone you knew was considering using the ASVB what would you tell them?
Paul: Just get in there and have a go! I would tell them how useful the tool is, it quantifies something we haven’t been able to do in the past, it is easy to use and the ASVB has done the hard work for us so we can just go online and get results.

Paul thank you so much for your time today and sharing your experience of using the ASVB. We wish you all the best with the expansion of the Tenancy Skills Institute roll out.

If you are interested in learning more about InCommunity and their Tenancy Skills Institute please visit their website www.tenancyskills.com.au.

Apply ASVB Grant & Subsidy Scheme

With a vision to create the best places for people both now and in the future, it makes perfect sense that Lendlease would be amongst the first of the large corporations to start using the ASVB to demonstrate their social impact.

Dick Dusseldorp, who started Lendlease in Sydney in 1958, was a visionary well ahead of his time. He believed that the company needed to measure success not only by profits made, but equally by the legacies it creates, the lives it touches, the people it inspires and in the communities it enriches.

Lendlease have a long and proud history of giving equal emphasis to environmental, social and economic outcomes to deliver sustainable solutions. At the core of the Lendlease values is the understanding that creating communities that foster a sense of belonging has much more value than providing mere shelter.

To this end, in 1983 the Lendlease Foundation was established by Dick Dusseldorp and CEO, Stuart Hornery in 1983. It is responsible for initiatives that are designed to enrich the lives of their employees and their families, aid charities and communities where employees live and work, and inspire interest in the activities of Lendlease.

Whilst being able to estimate the social impacts that Lendlease creates in dollar terms may have been beyond what even ‘Duss’ himself had imagined, with the help of the ASVB, Lendlease can now begin to effectively quantify the positive impacts that they are creating in the communities they develop.

Also, Lendlease Foundation’s purchase of an ASVB user licence, now makes it possible for micro not-for-profit organisations with an annual revenue of less than $1.5 million to apply for a grant to access the ASVB for free.

Global Head of Lendlease Foundation, Cate Harris, who drove the adoption of the ASVB in Lendlease Australia said “The ASVB makes it easy for us to demonstrate our social impact. We’re also delighted that our user licence purchase can support smaller not-for-profits to get the same benefits from the tool. It aligns perfectly with the aims of the Lendlease Foundation.”

To apply for an ASVB user licence grant, please visit the ASVB website Licence Fee page https://asvb.com.au/how-asvb-can-help/asvb-user-license-fee/ and fill out an application form, or contact us to discuss your organisations options.

We are thrilled to welcome Lendlease to the ASVB User community, and thank them for ‘paying it forward’ so that others can start valuing the social impact they create.