Reporting Value Using Social Return on Investment Reports

Abstract

This chapter provides an assessment of social return on investment (SROI) as an instrument of reporting the value that (non-profit) organizations in the social economy have created. After a general overview and comparison of two most widely referred SROI guidelines, a selection of SROI reports in practice is analyzed based on criteria of popular reporting. Popular reporting has emerged in the accounting discipline as a way of establishing an easy to understand, short enough to maintain attention document to different user groups (e.g., clients, citizens, decision makers). This new approach lending from the basic ideas of popular reporting allows researchers and practitioners alike to gain new insights into the current design as well as the potential of SROI reports as a key instrument of accountability for (non-profit) organizations in the social economy.