Why Measure Social Impact?
Social impact can also be described as the creation of value in the lives of the beneficiaries. Measuring value addition through the assessment of the social benefits created by program interventions is a powerful tool for leveraging funds and pay-for-performance relationships. It also supports organizations in designing effective projects through evidence-based planning, and in building public support for its activities.
Impact Evaluation
The primary purpose of impact evaluation is to determine whether a project has an impact (positive or negative), and to quantify the magnitude of these changes that have occurred.
Many impact evaluations refer only to a few key outcomes, the ones addressed directly by the project. They do not take into account that all social interventions have implications that go beyond the “officially” targeted goals.
Therefore, these methodologies concentrate only on partial aspects of the living conditions of the targeted population. As a result, many other benefits are ignored and not captured.
The Concrete Approach
The SEW-Index uses a weighted average system of nine indicators. The concrete value that is assigned to each of the indicators should reflect the situation of the evaluated group in relation to the absolute optimum situation (which will be given in the XXI century’s land of cream and honey), and not to the best possible situation that the assessed group could have, given their current circumstances.
Therefore, the value attributed to each indicator makes reference to an absolute maximum.
The Swissocial Approach
The Swissocial approach is a comprehensive scheme which considers all relevant variables that affect human lives.
The Socio-Economic Welfare Index (SEWI) is an Impact Evaluation Methodology aimed at measuring the change in the living conditions of the beneficiaries of a project.
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The SEWI methodology is an appropriate and efficient approach to measure the social impact created by social projects, especially related to training and education at various levels.