June 28, 2017
Te Pou Matakana finds way to measure social impact
The chair of North Island Whanau Ora commissioning agency Te Pou Matakana says Social Return on Investment is a better way to measure the impact of activities and programmes on whanau than just measuring outputs.
Te Pou Matakana released a report on the methodology at parliament yesterday, including analysis of a whanau ora programme run by West Auckland's Te Whanau o Waipareira that showed a social value of $1.80 for every $1 invested.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says it's a principle-based methodology, and because it is stakeholder-driven it requires commitment rather than box ticking.
"It's the difference it makes to the whanau. Now how you actually measure that and put a dollar on it so you know you are getting value for money so that you can signal to the government, these are the dollars you gave us, this is the impact we have had. This is the difference in terms of economics, it's also the difference it has made socially the improvement of their health or education etc, and there is an environmental improvement as well," she says.
Mrs Raukawa-Tait says measuring social return on investment will allow providers to improve their services and give funders confidence their money is spent well.
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