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Dear Larry, Erik, This is an opinion piece by Debra Allcock Tyler, the Chief Executive of the Directory of Social Change, a charity that stands up for the many thousands of smaller voluntary sector organisations that struggle to respond to these types of government initiatives. It's about social investment and the Big Society Bank that the UK government is currently establishing. http://bit.ly/fa7hPm Here is the response of Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society: http://bit.ly/g8afz6 I'm not aware of specific responses from disability organisations regarding social impact bonds. Speaking in a personal capacity as the trustee of a local charity (not Communication Matters which is the charity I work for) that aims to prevent/reduce family problems through early intervention I can't understand how the social investment bond would work for us. How do you measure the savings brought about by preventative work? Having said this I do think that many voluntary sector organisations undervalue what they do when describing themselves to potential funders and would benefit from thinking about the wider ways in which their work contributes to society (the "social capital" they create). For example, an organisation could record the ways in which volunteers have benefitted from working for them rather than just describing the benefits to the people they help: some volunteers go on to find jobs as a result of volunteering. These are my personal opinions rather than those of Communication Matters. Kind regards Katie Katie Holmes Research Manager Communication Matters (ISAAC UK) I work Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Tel.: 0115 8781305 Communication Matters (ISAAC UK) Catchpell House, Carpet Lane, Edinburgh, EH6 6SP General Enquiries: Tel & Fax 0845 456 8211 International: Tel & Fax +44 131 467 7487 Email: [log in to unmask] Come and browse our Web site! http://www.communicationmatters.org.uk Registered Charity No. 327500 Registered Company in England & Wales No. 01965474 -----Original Message----- From: erik leipoldt [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 01 April 2011 10:47 To: Katie Holmes; [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Impact measurement tools Dear Katie, I'd be interested to learn more about implementation of these social investment bonds and their impacts of people in need of support. It has been proposed for example by Mission Australia as a source of funding for the 'third sector.' SIB's do appear to further marketise care and support where the motivation to assist is of a monetary (involving effectiveness and efficiency) nature rather than one of social justice, rights or because assisting those in need is an inherently good thing, including as a vital buttress to a civil society. Is there much of a published critique of SIB's along those lines, or opposition on such grounds from disability groups in the UK? Cheers Erik Leipoldt ----- Original Message ----- From: "Katie Holmes" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 4:20 PM Subject: Re: Impact measurement tools Dear Sue, Sorry for the belated reply. The Third Sector Research Centre is undertaking a review of tools and methods used to measure Social Return on Investment (SROI). Another useful contact might be Karl Wilding, Head of Research, at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. I don't think NCVO has conducted research in this area but he has a good knowledge of voluntary sector research. Demonstrating SROI is going to become even more important for voluntary sector organisations if the Government proceeds with its social investment bond concept. Kind regards Katie Katie Holmes Research Manager Communication Matters [log in to unmask] ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.