For certain projects, it's interesting to measure the economic value created by the activities involved, or even to put a financial value on the social impacts. So you can evaluate the direct benefits and avoided costs thanks to your project, for your partners and the community. In the last video, Jean-Louis Kiehl explained how the early detection model for the risks of overindebtedness has helped banks to make savings of almost 150 million euros by avoiding the costs of writing off debts or administrative costs. Some social economy stakeholders go even further and put a monetary value on social impacts, for example by calculating the value of health improvements in order to determine the social return on investment or SROI. When you're putting together a project, calculating the economic benefits of your activities can provide a convincing argument to help win over partners or financiers. So how should you start? Start by setting the boundaries of your social impact measurement. Why do you need to measure your impact, and for whom? Determine the level of feasibility you need to achieve and the level of credibility. In some cases, you might have to enlist the help of researchers or consultancies. Next, what do you want to measure? What information will enable you to make the right decisions for your project? What are your human and financial resources? And finally, to what extent has the link between your activity and results already been demonstrated? These key questions will help you to identify the most suitable method of measuring your impact and finding the right balance between rigour and pragmatism. The golden rule is to prioritise. It's easy to measure a whole lot of different things, but the key is to evaluate the really important things that are going to be useful for you, the things that will help guide your actions, take strategic decisions or communicate effectively with your partners. Perhaps a more in-depth scientific study might be needed to measure some of your impacts, whereas one or two simple indicators will be enough to measure others. A product usage rate can be a good starting point. Finally, remember that social changes are hard to measure and even harder to anticipate, that they are a long-term thing, taking 10, 20 or 50 years. So always keep a humble outlook and be transparent about your results and your chosen methods. Remember that your impacts may be positive or negative. Take care over the way you communicate and adapt your message to suit your audience. Now it's over to you!
Set out clearly the issue you're looking to resolve, and how your solution is relevant. Identify your key indicators of achievement and results, identify the methodology that's best suited to your project for measuring change. Don't get disheartened, keep things simple...and good luck!