Social Value International announces ‘Standard on applying principle 3 : Value the things that matter’

This standard on Principle 3 is published by Social Value International as part of a complete set of standards and guidance documents for applying the seven principles of social value. This principle, to value the things that matter, is one of the most unique aspects of our framework for accounting for social value.

This version was published in November 2019.

This document has been co-produced by the Methodological Sub-committee (MSC) of Social Value International (SVI). As part of the governance of SVI, the role of the MSC is to develop technical guidance and standards for applying the Social Value Principles.

The principle and practice of explicitly valuing social outcomes from the perspective of stakeholders is what sets us apart from many other approaches. As such, the publication of this document marks an important moment for SVI, and one that we have been working toward for a long
time.

There are numerous other social impact accounting approaches and initiatives that are increasingly referencing and advocating for a form of valuation of social impacts. The work of the multi-capital coalitions (Natural Capital Coalition and the Social and Human Capital Coalition), the Impact
Management Project, the Blended Value Initiative, and Reporting 3.0 are all examples of initiatives that are encouraging businesses to value (in some way) social outcomes and impacts.

Social Value International as an organisation and through our members are involved in many of these initiatives and welcome this growing acknowledgement that establishing the relative importance or ‘value’ of social outcomes is crucial for making more effective decisions. We hope that this document is a useful contribution to the many conversations happening all around the world.

The Principles of Social Value (the Principles) are intended to guide organisations and individuals from all sectors on best practice in accounting and reporting social value. The Principles provide a framework for creating a complete account of social value based on all material outcomes. Consequently, the data collected is designed for supporting continuous improvement (decisions on how to optimise the value being created for stakeholders), and the approach allows stakeholders to hold the organisation to account.

These Principles are the framework underpinning the work of Social Value International (SVI) and form the basis for the SVI Report Assurance Standard and other Accreditation services.

An in-depth webinar on the Standard on applying Principle 3: Value the things that matter will be coming on February 26th 2020. Register here.

Download the Standard on applying Principle 3: Value the things that matter here.