ARHF: Monetising Impact Through Social Return on Investment (SROI)

While ARHF is primarily committed to alleviating human suffering, it is also essential to consider the broader socio-economic value of our work. In Africa, healthcare costs place a significant burden on national economies and directly affect people’s disposable income.

At ARHF, we believe that understanding social value can transform the way we perceive the world and guide how we allocate resources. By improving how we measure and account for value, we aim to contribute to a healthier, more equitable society.

What is Social Value?

Social value represents a broader, more inclusive understanding of impact. Instead of focusing solely on monetary metrics, it emphasizes the perspectives of individuals and communities—those directly affected by our actions. Understanding value from the people’s viewpoint is vital.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like ARHF have impacts that extend across many areas of life. While our primary focus is health, we recognize that good health is interconnected with income, education, social relationships, mental well-being, and more. That’s why we as ARHF assess our broader impact—so we can make better-informed decisions and provide health authorities and donors with a more comprehensive picture.

Social Return on Investment (SROI)

Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a framework for measuring value based on outcomes. Developed in the early 1990s by the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund and later refined by the New Economics Foundation, SROI offers a structured way to connect resources (inputs) with the results of change (outputs).

More than just a cost-benefit analysis, SROI helps distinguish between short-term outcomes and long-term impacts—such as those measured annually. It has proven useful in various healthcare contexts, and can be applied both prospectively and retrospectively to assess and optimize impact.

ARHF: impressive SROI outcomes

ARHF projects that have been evaluated using the SROI method consistently show a return of approximately 40. In other words, for every euro invested in these health initiatives, a social value of 40 euros is generated.

And based on these outcomes it can be confidently concluded that ARHF’s approach is very effective and meaningful!

For a detailed SROI calculation of a ARHF project, click here.

References:

1. Social Value: the global network for social value and impact management. https://socialvalueuk.org/standards-and-guidance/
2. SROI method (Excel sheet) https://socialvalueuk.org/resources/sroi-value-map/
3. Study providing a blueprint for evaluating the holistic impact of health projects using SROI. https://journals.plos.org/digitalhealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pdig.0000363

Tags: Africa ▪ aid ▪ social impact ▪ sroi