3.1 Developing outcome indicators
Indicators are ways of knowing that change has happened. In SROI they are applied to
outcomes as these are the measures of change that we are interested in.
The next stage in developing the impact map is to clarify one or more indicators for
each of the outcomes on your map. You will need indicators that can tell you both
whether the outcome has occurred, and by how much.
Time to involve your stakeholders
Stakeholders are often the best people to help you identify indicators,
so ask them how they know that change has happened for them.
For example, if the outcome was an increase in self-confidence, ask the people
whose self-confidence is increased what they now do as a result, or ask them to
tell you what they mean by self-confidence. In this way you are more likely to
get to something that you can measure. They might say: “Before [the activity] I
would never go out, but now I get the bus into town to meet my friends.” In this
example the indicator of self-confidence could be whether people go out more or
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spend more time with other people.
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Balancing subjective and objective indicators
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Sometimes you need to use more than one indicator. Try to mix subjective (or
self-reported) and objective indicators that complement each other. There are risks
of relying on self-reporting measures that can be offset by supporting them with
objective indicators. Check your indicators with your stakeholders. For example,
frequency of use of GP services is commonly used to measure health outcomes
but could be either positive or negative depending on the circumstances (eg
increased use of GP services is often a positive outcome for homeless people
who are less likely to present with health problems when they arise).
The example below is for a mental health day service.
Example: Choosing indicators
Outcome Indicator
Reduced social • Whether participants are taking part in new activities
isolation (eg taking up new sports or hobbies, visiting new places)
• Whether participants report having more friends
• Level of social skills reported by participants
• Whether participants are accessing relevant public services
that they had not used in the past, like public transport
Decreased • Number of activities participants are involved in outside the
stigmatisation of mental health services
people with mental • Number of incidents of discrimination reported by participants
health problems • Involvement of local community in organisation’s activities
• Change in attitudes within the local community
A guide to Social Return on Investment
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