Implementing Social Accounting

1. Implementing Social Accounting OISE/UT Social Accounting Certificate Course April 2004 B.J. Richmond Faculty of Education, York U. Bjrichmond@edu.yorku.ca

2. Agenda

3. Presentation Outline Overview • What’s Been Done • Uses, Challenges • Prospects Implementation • Approach • Plan • Reporting

4. What’s Been Done • Research • Case studies of nonprofits, co-operative • Training • Workshops, seminars, certificate course • Publications • Book, journal articles, reviews, reactions

5. SA Uses Provides nonprofits with: • New perspectives on NP use, production of resources • Emphasis on production not consumption • Management Information • For better management of resources, broader perspective on impacts

6. SA Uses • For primary stakeholders • Provides more complete picture to those who ensure its success (e.g. Board, staff, community) • Provides data for funders, donors • Proactive information on leveraging funder/donor $$

7. SA Challenges • Commitment • Need champions among staff and Board • Training • For staff, Board, volunteers • Data collection • Staff to set up effective data collection systems • Systems, standards are key • For counting, valuing volunteer hours

8. Prospects: Three Trends That Support Implementation • Greater Awareness of Nonprofits’ (NP) Value: to civil society, developing social capital • Push for Greater NP Accountability: greater focus on/awareness of social outputs, indicators • Volunteering is changingfrom informal to formal operating: greater expectations for management of volunteers, reporting; more accessible tools, training on-line

9. Prospects: Three Realities that Impede Implementation • NP management is overburdened • And the demands just keep on coming • Lack of standard, easily applied methods, tools • Yet the demand for numbers is increasing • Volunteering is changing from an informal support to a formal one • But without adequate resources - NPs need systems to contact, track, and value volunteers; information is more accessible but staffing to put it in place is an issue

10. Prospects: What’s Next

11. Implementation • Approach • Plan • Reporting

12. Implementation Approach • Prioritize • Assess need for socio-economic reporting • Make a business case • Provide Board with information • Plan • In conjunction with AGM, reports to funders

13. Implementation Approach • Inventory • Assess what is needed • Allocate resources • Least effort, most benefit • Train • Staff, volunteers in setting up systems, tracking • Evaluate • Benefits, use of resources

14. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 1: Decide level • Report on volunteer contributions, one program (need to be able to capture outputs for this – see WCRI example) • Step 2: Get management on board • Handout: Persuading Your Board (LM) • Make a business case, demonstrate, prepare outline of time and resources required/sources

15. Implementation Plan cont’d • Step 3: Take inventory • What data do you have? Need? • Volunteer roles, hours; Board, committee hours • Verification – from other sources, e.g. Board hours against meetings, ED’s recollection, one member tracks; e.g. volunteer survey • Volunteer hour tracking system in place? Needed?

16. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 4: Decide how much data to collect • Costs to volunteers? Benefits to volunteers? • Step 5: Plan resources needed • Recruit an MSW student, a volunteer to set up systems, collect data, produce parts of the report? Use staff incentives?

17. Developing an Implementation Plan • Step 6: Prepare timeline • On a two-year basis • Step 7: Prepare a “who does what, when” plan • Work backwards from first key opportunity to introduce • Step 8: Network with others who are doing this!

18. Reporting • Preparing to report • Structure

19. Preparing to Report • Prepare report for first key opportunity • Prepare it as a social report to accompany financial reports • Decide who is best to present the report; other venues for using it

20. Report Structure: from Chapters 4, 5 & 8 • Context: mission, niche, outputs, etc. • Role of volunteers: role played in fulfilling agency mission, contribution expressed as FTE, as a resource compared with other resources • EVAS: including method

21. EVAS - clarifications • Who did the report, for what fiscal year, how • Method: explain sources of data, verification of data; explain Comparative Market Value; cite the use of this method in our text • Qualify: Report qualitative data; discuss limitations – what not included

22. EVAS disclaimer? • “This statement provides social data to accompany the organization’s financial report. It is specific to the year and circumstances reported. It cannot be used to compare with results from other organizations or this organization at other times. It is provides a partial account of the value of volunteer contributions.”

23. Next Steps • Posting implementation data on web • Networking • Introducing this method to funders • Looking for training opportunities • This group meeting again: Monday a.m. in September/October? • Other opportunities?