Written by: Charlotte Barker, Technical Specialist Social Value | Last updated: 07.09.2026
When organisations talk about social value, the conversation can quickly turn to numbers: Volunteering hours. Apprenticeships created. People trained. Spend with local suppliers. And, increasingly, a headline figure for the total social value generated.
These measures can all be useful. But they do not all tell us the same thing.
A business might know that 500 people attended a skills programme without knowing whether their skills improved. It might report millions of pounds of social value without being able to explain what changed for the people or communities behind that figure.
As expectations around social value continue to develop, particularly through procurement, the challenge is not simply whether organisations can measure social value. It is whether they can understand and evidence the change their activities are creating.
What does measuring social value actually mean?
One of the most important distinctions in measuring social value is between what happened and what changed.
Take a hypothetical employability programme. Imagine an organisation invests £100,000, delivers 20 workshops and supports 200 people through training. The investment tells us about the input, the workshops tell us what activity took place, and the number completing training tells us about the programme’s reach.If 60 participants subsequently enter employment, we have started to understand an outcome: a change experienced by the people involved.Each measure has a purpose. Problems arise when they are treated as though they demonstrate the same thing.
This distinction is reflected in the Principles of Social Value(1) developed by Social Value International, which emphasise understanding the changes experienced by those affected.
But even then, we need to be careful. Knowing that someone found employment after taking part doesn’t necessarily tell us how much of that change was down to the programme.
When organisations start measuring social value, there can be a tendency to focus on generating a bigger number. But the most useful question is often much simpler: what actually changed, and what evidence do we have to support that? Strong measurement isn’t about measuring everything. It’s about focusing on the outcomes that matter and being clear about what the evidence can, and can’t, tell us.”Charlotte BarkerTechnical Specialist – Social Value
Not everything that matters needs a £ value
Monetising social value can be useful. Financial proxies can translate different outcomes into a common unit, support comparison and help make social outcomes more visible in business decision-making.
But a bigger social value figure is not necessarily evidence of greater impact.
A monetary value is only as useful as the outcome, evidence and assumptions behind it. Without that context, attention can shift towards producing an impressive headline number rather than understanding the change it represents.
HM Treasury’s 2026 Green Book(2) recognises that social costs and benefits may be understood in monetary, quantitative or qualitative terms, and emphasises proportionality in deciding how much resource to invest in measurement.
For organisations considering how to measure social value, the question should therefore be what information provides meaningful evidence for the outcome or decision at hand. Sometimes that will include monetisation. In other cases, outcome indicators supported by stakeholder feedback or qualitative evidence may tell you more.
What are the main standards for measuring social value?
There is no shortage of frameworks and methodologies for measuring social value. But they don’t all do the same job.
The Social Value TOM System(3) provides a structured approach using Themes, Outcomes and Measures, including financial proxy values. It can help organisations apply a consistent set of measures across activities, programmes or contracts.
Social Value International’s Principles and Standards take a broader approach to understanding, measuring and managing social value. Rather than starting with a standard set of measures, they focus on understanding the changes experienced by stakeholders and using that information to inform decisions. Social Return on Investment (SROI) applies these principles through a methodology for understanding and, where appropriate, valuing the outcomes created.
Organisations involved in UK public procurement may also encounter the UK Government’s Social Value Model(4). This serves a different purpose, setting out social value outcomes for relevant central government procurement rather than providing a standalone methodology for measuring impact.
There is also an opportunity to connect social value with wider sustainability measurement and reporting. Businesses may already be collecting information on workforce, communities and other social issues through standards such as ESRS, GRI or SASB. While these serve a different purpose from social value methodologies, the underlying data, definitions, ownership and governance arrangements can provide useful building blocks for social value measurement. Connecting these approaches where appropriate can help avoid duplication and create a more joined-up picture of social performance.
Rather than beginning with “Which framework should we adopt?”, start with the outcomes that matter and the decisions the evidence needs to inform.
The framework should support the purpose, rather than define it.
What makes social value evidence credible?
Strong measurement also requires discipline about what the evidence allows you to claim.
If procurement data shows that £500,000 was spent with local suppliers, a business can credibly report that spend. The same evidence would not, on its own, demonstrate that those suppliers grew, created jobs or became more resilient as a result.
As claims move towards outcomes and impact, two further questions become important: what would have happened anyway, and how much of the change can reasonably be linked to your contribution?
These questions are often discussed in terms of additionality and attribution. Some participants in our hypothetical programme might have found employment anyway. Others may also have received support from a charity, Jobcentre Plus or another training provider. Claiming every employment outcome as wholly created by one programme could therefore overstate its impact.
Social Value International captures this through its principle of “Do not overclaim”, while HM Treasury’s Green Book similarly distinguishes between outcomes that would have happened without an intervention and genuinely additional outcomes.
This doesn’t mean every initiative needs a complex impact evaluation. Evidence should be proportionate to the activity and the claims being made.
Nor does evidence have to be entirely quantitative. Numbers can demonstrate scale and consistency, while feedback from participants, communities and delivery partners can help explain how change was experienced and why it mattered. The strongest evidence base often brings the two together.
How can organisations improve their approach to social value measurement?
For many organisations, the immediate driver for measuring social value is reporting. A procurement team needs evidence for a tender. A contract manager needs to demonstrate delivery. A sustainability team needs information for external reporting.
Those are important uses of the data, but they shouldn’t be the end point.
Good evidence can help businesses understand which activities are creating meaningful outcomes, where commitments are proving difficult to deliver and where resources could be used more effectively. Over time, it can create a stronger basis for future commitments and decisions.
That shifts the conversation from:How much social value did we create? to:What changed, how do we know and what should we do next?
Ultimately, measuring social value is not about turning complex outcomes for people and communities into a spreadsheet exercise. It is about building credible evidence, understanding the difference an organisation is making and using what is learned to create stronger outcomes over time.
Whether you’re looking to strengthen how you measure and evidence social value, respond to procurement requirements or better understand the impact your organisation is already creating, Simply Sustainable can help you develop an approach that is practical, proportionate and right for your organisation.
We help you understand how your business impacts the world around it. And what it depends on. So you can manage risks, uncover opportunities, and make smarter, more sustainable decisions.
