How to Measure Social Value

Measuring social value can feel daunting. Unlike financial performance, which has standardised metrics and accounting frameworks, social value encompasses diverse outcomes that aren’t always easy to quantify. But measurement is crucial. Without it, you can’t demonstrate impact, identify what’s working, or make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts.

The good news is that established methodologies and frameworks exist to help organisations measure social value in rigorous, credible ways.

 

Why measurement matters

Accountability and transparency

Stakeholders want evidence, not just statements of intent. Measuring social value demonstrates that you’re serious about your commitments and willing to be held accountable for delivering them.

Continuous improvement

Measurement helps you understand what’s working and what isn’t. It enables you to refine your approach, allocate resources more effectively, and maximise your positive impact over time.

Competitive advantage

In procurement contexts, organisations that can quantify and evidence their social value stand out. Strong measurement demonstrates capability and builds confidence with commissioners and clients.

Strategic insight

Understanding the value you create can inform strategic decisions. It might reveal unexpected benefits, highlight areas where you could do more, or demonstrate the return on investment in social value activities.

 

Common social value measurement frameworks

National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures)

The National TOMs framework provides a standardised approach to measuring and reporting social value, particularly in the context of public procurement. It covers themes including jobs, growth, social, environment, and innovation, with specific measures and proxy values that allow different organisations to report social value on a comparable basis.

TOMs is widely used across local authorities and other public sector bodies, making it particularly relevant for organisations bidding for public contracts. Its standardised approach means commissioners can compare bids and track delivery consistently.

Social Return on Investment (SROI)

SROI is a principles-based approach that measures the broader value created by an activity or organisation. It assigns monetary values to social, environmental and economic outcomes, expressing results as a ratio—for example, every £1 invested generates £3 of social value.

SROI involves identifying stakeholders, mapping outcomes, evidencing those outcomes with data, establishing financial proxies to value them, and calculating the overall return. It’s a thorough methodology that provides compelling evidence of impact, though it requires time and expertise to implement well.

Bespoke frameworks

Some organisations develop their own measurement frameworks tailored to their specific context and priorities. This might be appropriate where standard frameworks don’t adequately capture the outcomes you’re creating, or where you’re operating in a specialist sector with unique characteristics.

Bespoke frameworks offer flexibility but require rigorous development to ensure they’re credible. They should still be grounded in sound methodology, transparent about assumptions, and ideally independently validated.

 

What to measure

The specific metrics you use will depend on your social value commitments and the outcomes you’re aiming to achieve. However, effective measurement typically captures both outputs and outcomes.

Outputs are the direct, tangible things you deliver: number of local jobs created, value of contracts awarded to SMEs, hours of volunteering, tonnes of carbon saved, number of apprenticeships provided.

Outcomes are the changes that result from those outputs: improved employment prospects for disadvantaged groups, strengthened local economy, enhanced skills and capabilities, reduced environmental impact, improved community cohesion.

Where possible, aim to measure outcomes, not just outputs. Creating ten apprenticeships (output) is valuable, but understanding how many of those apprentices gain permanent employment and how their lives improve as a result (outcomes) tells a more meaningful story about your impact.

 

The practicalities of measurement

Establish baselines

Before you can measure change, you need to know where you’re starting from. Establish baselines early, whether that’s current employment levels in your supply chain, existing carbon emissions, or current community satisfaction levels.

Define targets

Set clear, ambitious but achievable targets. These provide direction for your efforts and benchmarks against which to measure progress.

Collect data systematically

Build data collection into your processes rather than treating it as an afterthought. This might mean adding social value fields to procurement systems, creating reporting mechanisms for project teams, or establishing regular stakeholder surveys.

Be honest about limitations

No measurement approach is perfect. Attribution is difficult—can you really say your intervention caused that outcome, or would it have happened anyway? Proxy values involve assumptions. Data may be incomplete. Being transparent about these limitations actually strengthens credibility.

Communicate results

Measurement is only valuable if you do something with it. Use results to inform decision-making, report progress to stakeholders, and tell the story of your impact in compelling ways.

Getting started

If you’re new to social value measurement, start with what matters most. Identify three to five priority outcomes you want to track, choose a methodology that fits your context and resources, and establish systems to collect the necessary data.

You don’t need to measure everything perfectly from day one. It’s better to measure a few things well and build capability over time than to develop an overcomplicated system that becomes unmanageable.

And if measurement feels overwhelming, that’s where specialist support can help. At Akerlof, we work with organisations to design and implement measurement approaches that are rigorous, practical, and aligned with what you’re trying to achieve.

 

Ready to measure your impact?

Whether you’re looking to strengthen your social value reporting, improve your tender submissions, or simply understand the difference you’re already making, we’re here to help. Get in touch today.