SOCIAl RETURN ON INVESTMENT
SIMPLIFIED
Social Impact Reporting
A Practical Guide for Funders and Organisations
This guide offers a concise, accessible overview of how to demonstrate social impact in ways that align with funder expectations and strategic decision-making. It introduces the key principles of Social Return on Investment (SROI), including how to identify stakeholders, document inputs, track outputs and outcomes, and assign value to the changes your organisation creates. The content is intended to support organisations in strengthening funding proposals, improving transparency, and making more informed choices about where and how they invest resources.
Developed by Matatihi, the guide draws on best practice methods and is designed to be compatible with the New Zealand Treasury’s expectations for impact evidence. It reflects Matatihi’s commitment to supporting meaningful, measurable improvements in community wellbeing, and provides a foundation for robust and credible social impact reporting.
ATTRIBUTION
A guide to determining the size of you social impact
This detailed guide to attribution provides clear guidance on how to accurately measure and report the portion of social impact directly caused by your programme—an essential practice known as attribution. Being transparent about your share of positive outcomes not only meets the expectations of funders but also strengthens your credibility and informs strategic decision-making.
You'll learn practical methods for distinguishing your unique contribution from other influences, including the concepts of Deadweight, Displacement, Others' Contributions, and Drop-off. By applying these attribution principles, you'll ensure your reporting reflects reality, builds trust with stakeholders, and supports robust, collaborative relationships.
Developed by Matatihi, this approach aligns with best-practice standards recognised by New Zealand Treasury, and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to helping organisations achieve clear, honest, and compelling impact assessments.
Stakeholders
A guide to identifying, engaging, and understanding your stakeholders
This practical guide to stakeholders provides clear direction on how to identify who matters most to your programme, understand their perspectives, and meaningfully engage with them throughout your impact assessment. Effective stakeholder engagement isn't just good practice—it's essential for credible, inclusive, and robust evaluation.
You'll explore who your stakeholders really are—ranging from primary users of your services to secondary supporters and tertiary observers—and why their voices matter. Learn proven methods for capturing genuine experiences, avoiding common pitfalls, and ensuring your assessments reflect the real impact of your work. This includes strategies for inclusive and culturally safe engagement, practical tools for prioritising stakeholder groups, and ways to transparently integrate stakeholder feedback into your outcomes reporting.
Developed by Matatihi, this stakeholder-focused approach aligns with best-practice standards recognised by the New Zealand Treasury and government expectations, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to helping organisations deliver meaningful, accurate, and trusted impact assessments.
Inputs
A guide to recognising everything you put in
This practical guide to inputs demystifies the often-overlooked resources that power your programme—from volunteer hours and kōrero with kaumātua to software licences and leased vehicles. By mapping every dollar, minute, and square metre, you’ll ensure the cost side of your SROI ratio is as robust as the outcomes you report. Transparent input accounting strengthens funder confidence, honours community contributions, and lays the groundwork for smarter planning and budgeting.
You’ll learn how to:
Identify the full spectrum of inputs – financial, human, physical, knowledge, and cultural resources—so nothing slips through the cracks.
Quantify with defensible evidence – convert commitments into numbers using payroll data, timesheets, asset registers, and clear proxies where data are missing.
Avoid common pitfalls – spot double-counting, capture in-kind support, and document valuation methods to maintain transparency.
Demonstrate value for money – link inputs directly to outcomes so funders, partners, and communities can see exactly how resources turn into positive change.
OUTPUTS
A guide to tracking what you deliver
This practical guide to outputs shows you how to capture the tangible results of your work – from hui held and training modules completed to homes repaired and care packages delivered. By recording every workshop, hour of service, and item distributed, you create a clear bridge between the resources invested and the change achieved. Transparent output tracking grounds your outcomes in real delivery, strengthens your credibility with funders, and provides the context needed to interpret your results.
You’ll learn how to:
Define outputs clearly – distinguish delivery (outputs) from change (outcomes) so your evaluation tells a clear, defensible story.
Identify and record consistently – use activity plans, service logs, attendance sheets, and frontline knowledge to capture the full picture across sites and teams.
Avoid common pitfalls – prevent overcounting, missing small but important outputs, or focusing solely on quantity without considering reach, timing, and accessibility.
Strengthen your impact narrative – link outputs directly to outcomes so stakeholders can see the pathway from what was delivered to the change it created.