Principle 8 - Be Responsive
Standard on applying Principle 8
Pursue optimum Social Value based on decision making that is timely and supported by appropriate accounting and reporting.
The eighth Principle of Social Value ‘Be Responsive’ is a management principle, formally introduced by SVI (in 2021) to an already established set of Social Value accounting principles. This principle represents the imperative for organisations to respond to impact measurement or ‘Social Value accounts’ with action. Users of this Standard will create a structured ‘impact management approach’ that can guide decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational levels to optimise impacts on wellbeing.
This document comprises four sections: section one provides a short overview of the Principles of Social Value and the SVI Standards; section two introduces the eighth Principle ‘Be Responsive’ in more detail and section three sets out the SVI Standard for applying it. Section four provides short guidance on how to meet the SVI Standard. Appendices provide further reading and the SVI Technical Glossary of Key Terms.
This Standard, read in conjunction with the other SVI Standards can enable you to optimise impacts on wellbeing for all materially affected stakeholder groups. This will help you achieve your goals and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable world.
Guidance for Organisations
This document explains how
senior leaders and decision makers can embed responsiveness within their impact management approach, ensuring that social value data informs decisions at strategic, tactical, and operational levels.
Guidance for Practitioners
This document provides complementary advice for those who investigate, analyse, and report on social value. It sets out how practitioners can apply and evidence Principle 8 in their reporting and prepare for assurance.
Useful guidance:
SDG Impact Standards
The SDG Impact Standards (the Standards) have been developed by SDG Impact – a flagship initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – to help investors and enterprises operate more sustainably and contribute positively to sustainable development and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Maximise Your Impact Guide
This guide is written for social entrepreneurs who want to maximise their positive impact and want a practical approach to help them do that. The key to this approach is ‘Impact Thinking’ and at its heart this means involving and being accountable to stakeholders, primarily those that the social enterprise aims to support.
This guide does not tell you how to produce an impact report. We hope that users of this guide will focus on producing recommendations: to change, stop or scale their activities.
Impact Management Principles
European Venture Philanthropy Association(EVPA) guidance for impact management and Social Value International’s (SVI) Principles are in many ways interlinked. This document shows EVPA and SVI’s position on impact measurement and management.
