In October, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) co-oganised a workshop with the SROI Network in Mumbai at the Centre for Management. Social Return on Investment (SROI) is gradually expected to gain traction in India, and according to Jeremy Nicholls, chief executive of the SROI Network, organisations in India increasingly want to know not only if they are creating value, but also how much value they are creating.
The workshop was well-received, and other speakers at the event included Sandhya Suresh and Joby C.O. of ESAF Microfinance and Investments, one of India’s largest microfinance non-banking finance companies set up in 1992; Kaushik Biswas of Alliance India, which is piloting a methodology based on measuring and valuing social and health outcomes against investment; and Manish Prasad from Cecodecon, a non-profit organisation established in 1982 and committed to building the capacity of poor and vulnerable sections of society to effectively claim their rights.
SROI is an important aspect of venture philanthropy, especially in large markets such as India where there are thousands of organisations and programmes to choose from, in terms of funding. The effective calculation of SROI can go a long way in helping donor organisations make informed decisions and choices in terms of what organisations they should be funding and what impact they can expect to see from such funding.While the SROI Network is currently not training any domestic Indian organisations, it is something the network would if required.
“We have some members providing services in India and so will continue to support them and respond to requests for information and help as they arise. We would hope that an SROI India network develops and will work to support this,” Jeremy said.
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