Позитивные изменения. Том 2, № 3 (2022). Positive changes. Volume 2, Issue 3 (2022)

There are a large number of methodological approaches that can be used to assess various aspects of the social impact of business.

Third, the resulting social effect will not necessarily be positive; it can as well be zero or negative. This factor can be a deterrent to the decision to conduct assessment. It can especially affect the decision-making in hybrid projects — non-profit organizations that open commercial activities as part of their overall operations. Our hypothesis is that non-profits are obliged to follow their Articles of Association, which clearly set out the organization’s goals and objectives of the organization, its target audiences and their problems, which the organization addresses. If, however, impact assessment shows that the project has an impact on a completely different target group or does not solve the stated problem at all, this can cast doubts on the entire organization’s activity and can have a negative impact on its image.

However, it is worth noting that this is a false logical connection. No active and developing organization can be absolutely constant in its goals and objectives. Even a zero effect is certainly not something to be ashamed or, even more so, to shut down the project, but an incentive to rethink the strategy and look for new points of growth.

Publishing any evaluation results is important not only to share the results with beneficiaries, partners and colleagues, but also to inform the sector about the risks, non-working solutions and to warn against mistakes. After all, when a business, including a social business, begins to grow, its team has an urgent need for effective management, data-driven decision-making, and the development of a communication strategy. These processes require not just standard business indicators such as revenue and profit, but also indicators of impact, which is one of the main results of the social enterprise.

A clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people’s lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise’s investment appeal.

Planning, conducting, and publishing a social impact assessment are primarily necessary for business itself. These processes enable the project leader and team to see that they need the project, to understand the depth and scope of the stated social problem, and to find new communication objectives, development vectors and ways to scale.

The impact assessment also directly affects the possibility of attracting additional funding: a clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people’s lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise’s investment appeal.

In addition to these quite obvious effects, it is also one more reason to be proud of yourself and the team. It is often overlooked, but motivating the team, showing the result of its work is an important task of every leader.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH ASSESSMENT?

Social impact assessment must consider all types of effects: positive and negative, immediate and delayed, expected and unpredictable. In this case, the assessment can use both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Collection methods can vary accordingly.

A generalized plan of action that could be used by social entrepreneurs of all types and scales would look like this:

• Developing a theory of change;

• Identification of social impact indicators that will need to be worked on in order to get the desired results;

• Data collection and analysis;

• Presentation of assessment results;

• Use of assessment results for management decision making.

Social impact assessment must consider all types of effects: positive and negative, immediate and delayed, expected and unpredictable.

The first point in this plan and an important tool is a theory of change — that is, a clear description of the intended relationship between activities and the results we hope to achieve. The theory of change explains the reasons why certain approaches are used and how these approaches will lead to the desired changes[16].