Mantell Gwynedd - Why measure social value?

Why measure social value?

Social value is described in our page ‘What is Social Value?’ and we all know that the third sector creates amazing amounts of social value, but we’re not always very good at celebrating the good work that we do and shouting from the roof tops about the difference being created. We think that should change – and organisations that create meaningful changes in people’s lives and savings for other organisations should be able to effectively tell the story of their work.
Measuring social value is not just about doing what is expected of us externally, when it is used effectively it can provide the potential to learn how to do things better. It is this that ultimately creates even more positive impacts in the lives of the people we care about.

The illustration below presents just some of the potential benefits from measuring social value.

View a larger picture of the above diagram here

Social value is the language that can help us to demonstrate the value of our work to people, organisations and society in a way that can be better communicated and understood by decision makers, be they internal or external to our organisation.

Testimonials

“We see Social Value as a major vehicle for change and improvement driven from the base up via our stakeholders and front-line staff. Training all our staff has already brought a clear focus on our core themes through value maps. This wouldn’t have been possible without the guidance and support of Mantell Gwynedd”

Paul Frost, The Outdoor Partnership Social Value Champion, and Member of the Board of Directors

"The Social Value Cymru team at Mantell Gwynedd supported staff in our organisation as well as those we work closely with when engaging volunteers in understanding how the questions posed to current and potentially new volunteers would enable us to discover what we are doing well and how we can improve on engagement strategies within communities surrounding our estate.
Social Value Cymru’s support has been critical to our work and their recommendations have enabled us to make realistic amendments as we review our Diversity & Inclusion Policy alongside our Volunteer Engagement Strategy for the next 3 years."

Kirsten Manley, Engagement and Communications Officer, The Woodland Trust

“This session has been invaluable in cascading my understanding of measuring per se”

- North Wales Measure and Manage your Social Value Project participant

“The evaluation carried out by Mantell Gwynedd has enabled us to provide evidence as to the social value and impact the Change Step project has on veterans, their families and the communities they live in. From a quality perspective it has also reassured us that the work we do has an impact not only from a financial perspective but also that it breeds confidence in our service provision and those who commission our service. As a third sector organisation, which is reliant on grant funding, this level of evaluation is essential for ongoing sustainability and developing new services. The customer care aspect demonstrated by Mantell Gwynedd was second to none and their grasp of our project from the outset was very impressive”
Geraint Jones, Director of Partnerships and Development for CAIS Cyf.

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