Brazil's first SROI evaluation reveals impact of children's initiative

BRAZIL'S FIRST SROI EVALUATION REVEALS TRUE IMPACT OF CHILDREN'S INITIATIVE

The Lucia and Pelerson Penido Foundation (FLUPP) is a Brazilian non-profit working to transform the lives of children in Sao Paulo state. FLUPP is a family foundation, created with funds from a group of successful, family-owned businesses. It aims to build a fairer society by raising standards in education – empowering teachers and parents, improving infrastructure and building links between schools and communities.

The Penido family set up FLUPP in 2009 with the help of IDIS. Drawing on IDIS’ expertise in philanthropy and impact measurement, FLUPP created programmes with real potential to improve children’s education and wellbeing as well as clear goals and a plan of the activities needed to achieve them.

The Penido family also used IDIS’ expertise to develop FLUPP’s central programme, ‘VIM’ (Valorizando uma Infância Melhor, or ‘Enhancing Early Childhood’). VIM engages families, teachers, local communities and authorities to better meet children’s pre-school developmental needs and give them the best possible start to their school career.

THE CHALLENGE

After four years of operation, FLUPP wanted to demonstrate its value as a non-profit organisation and establish the effectiveness of the VIM project – with the aim of applying this model to other municipalities. With CAF’s help, the team identified Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation as the best way to present strong evidence of VIM’s impact and - working in partnership with IDIS - carried out Brazil’s first ever SROI evaluation.

THE APPROACH

The evaluation focused on Roseira, one of four municipalities to host VIM. The team applied the SROI framework to:

predict the effect of the programme on its stakeholders (i.e. everyone who had changed as a result of the programme)
identify measurable indicators of the changes
collect the data through focus groups and surveys
assign a financial value to the programme outcomes
calculate the total value of VIM’s benefits in Roseira

What our client said:

“We believed that the VIM Program had achieved its objectives, but the SROI showed us that these objectives had been surpassed. The application of SROI methodology was meticulous and thorough: it examined every action with a magnifying glass and gave voice to every person involved.”

Eduarda Penido Dalla Vecchia, Director of FLUPP

Financial value was assigned using market values of paid-for services which achieve similar results to VIM’s activities.

WHAT THE EVALUATION DISCOVERED

The SROI evaluation indicated that for every R$1 of investment in VIM, R$4.08 of social value was being created. In other words, VIM was more than quadrupling the value invested.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR FLUPP?

FLUPP now has clear evidence that VIM is achieving its aim in having a significant, positive impact on young children’s development - and gives the foundation a strong case for continuing its valuable work.

IDIS and CAF Global Alliance

Based in São Paulo, IDIS provides consultancy and technical support to companies, families and communities who wish to invest in social projects and programmes.

IDIS is a partner of the CAF Global Alliance, a network of nine locally-led, independent organisations that work across six continents.

Over the last 25 years, the Global Alliance and its international presence has led to breakthroughs and social change that’s had a positive effect on the lives of millions of vulnerable and disadvantaged people and communities.

At its core, the Global Alliance works to help strengthen civil society worldwide as part of the Charities Aid Foundation, a champion for giving that works to help donors, companies and charities make a bigger impact.

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