Making the case for charities and NGOs
Oxford Economics offers a range of analytic tools to help charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) show the results of their mediation and measure its impact.
These are likely to help make tenders more persuasive, improving their case for funding and raise their profile. They can also assist managers in charities and NGOs to decide where they should spend their resources. By helping them assess performance and monitor progress over time, this approach addresses key issues, such as:
- What return does society get for every £1 or $1 invested in a charity or NGO?
- Which projects should a charity or NGO invest in to make the highest return to society?
- What is the monetary value of the social impacts a charity or NGO delivers?
- What is the cheapest way to deliver the same set of outcomes?
- How can a charity or NGO raise its profile to attract more funding?
The impact of charities and NGOs can be measured in a number of ways, including:
Social return on investment (SROI)—a popular metric used to quantify the positive impacts charities, NGOs and other institutions generate per £ or $ invested. The technique monetises the economic, social and environmental outcomes a charity produces over time. It subtracts the outcomes that would have occurred anyway and calculates the returns to society.
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA)—an evaluation technique that compares the monetary benefits a charity or NGO’s actions deliver relative to its costs. The results are usually presented in terms of a cost-benefit ratio.
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA)—compares the cost of a charity’s or NGO’s intervention relative to its effectiveness in delivering outcomes (for example, the number of offenders who gain employment). The results are typically presented as a cost-effectiveness ratio, which expresses the cost per outcome.