Civil society organizations have an important impact on societies. However, their accountability and the sustainability of their actions is generating much discussion in a global context where the space for civil society is shrinking. Social impact management, from diagnosis and design, to assessment, to strategy, to communication is one of the ways that can address these shortcomings. The Social Impact Management Toolkit presents a selection of tools, apps, and platforms that can be used by CSOs mindful of their impact. The Toolkit is designed as a step-by-step social impact guide for beginners and is aimed at small and medium organizations.
Authors: Sandra Oliveira, Vítor Simões, Zsófia Tornóczi, Stefan Cibian
Social Impact Management Toolkit for small and medium organizations (SMOs) is the result of a short pilot project born from discussions within the Civil Society Cluster of the Bosch Alumni Network/International Alumni Center – and thus received their support as well as MitOst guidance.
This toolkit is designed for organizations that aspire to grow, to play a meaningful role in their context, and to develop an organizational culture for learning and improvement. We reviewed and brought together in a structured way an array of tools that can help SMOs to prepare for, design, and implement social impact management.
It is also a statement we are making about the situation of SMOs. Our message is two-fold: relating to the sustainability of the sector that enables or precludes SMOs to exist and persist and to the importance of donor understanding of local contexts, including donor practices that are tailored to the capacity of SMOs.
SMOs are among the most vulnerable entities in the European civil society, especially so in the new European Union (EU) Member States but also in some of the southern European countries. Their ability to form, persist, and develop is directly affected by legal environment, social perception, skills of its members, and access to private and public funding. In some of the new EU Member States civil society space is Increasingly shrinking, organizations being forced out or experiencing several kinds of pressure.
At the same time, SMOs’ growth is sometimes limited by their engagement with funding organizations. Often, donor procedures impose processes that surpass the capacity of their grantees.
With these elements in mind, the ability of SMOs to show their work, progress, and impact becomes essential. If, and only if, SMOs are able to show the added value they bring are they likely to be supported and defended by their communities. Also, only if SMOs understand their level of capacity, can they engage with funders in a way that is supporting, rather than hindering their growth.
The aim of this toolkit is to support SMOs in overcoming those challenges by setting and achieving their impact management goals. We believe this can be done by embedding an impact mindset throughout its project’s life cycle from inception and design to assessment and closure.
Social impact management: why do you need it?
Social impact is the medium- or long-term change in a population’s well-being as a result of a given project, program or policy. It can be positive or negative, intended, or unintended. Social Impact Management (SIM) is a framework that allows projects and organizations to continuously prove and improve their capacity to increase well-being in the communities they work with.
Why do SMOs need SIM? When is it useful for a SMO? Which tools are appropriate for SMOs?
One could state that SMOs need SIM tools and procedures for management learning, efficiency, or better performance, to have gains in transparency and for designing a strategy. Above all, they need it for the sustainability of the organization and to deliver a better service for those it serves and the community.
Once we have set the ground for a common understanding of impact assessment and before diving deeper into this toolkit, consider these assumptions:
– SIM requires time, and an organization needs to carefully assess its time resources in order to make sure that using SIM-related tools is feasible;
– SIM requires staff, either voluntary or paid, as a few hours of work are needed to apply any SIM tool;
– SIM requires willingness to go a step further, to learn about the way an organization delivers activities and to be able to change its performance; and
– SIM requires the ability of an organization to question both itself and its constituency, as learning implies acknowledging also the negative parts of an organization’s action or strategy.
Consider also what a SMO needs to have in place when searching for the best SIM management tools for their case – a small internal diagnosis will be useful to go through the first steps, finding the time and space for an away day or a dedicated meeting. Inviting a facilitator can help to have an outside view of: where the organization is, resources (human and material) mapping, strategy mapping, and future visioning.
This toolkit consists of 5 steps – from chapter 1 through 5 we explore the 5 stages of the impact management cycle: identifying social/societal challenges, mapping assets and needs, setting objectives and strategies, monitoring, and evaluation. All these are outlined having the SMOs perspective in mind.
Departments: The International Center for Global Affairs and Postdevelopment (IC-GAP), Research Department, Policy Analysis and Outreach Department
Region: Global
Themes: Democracy and Democratization, Civil Society, Management