Requirements for using Sport NZ's Social Value Bank tool to measure Social Return on Investment 

This guidance supports organisations in the play, active recreation and sport sector interested in using the Sport NZ Social Value Bank tool to measure Social Return on Investment (SROI). The minimum requirements for using the tool are explained below. 

While Sport NZ is aware that the sector is interested in SROI and social value, we do not expect sector organisations to undertake their own SROI studies.  

Social Return on Investment

SROI is a model used to quantify the social and financial benefits and value of a service, programme, policy or organisation to society. It is about value, rather than money. 

SROI tells the story of how change is being created by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes and uses monetary values to represent them. The monetary value of outcomes is expressed in relation to the size of the total investment.  

Most SROI studies of recreational physical activity measure changes in social outcomes resulting from participating and volunteering.  

SROI result 

The result of an SROI is commonly expressed as a ratio, 1:1 or a statement, such as: For every $1 spent on recreational physical activity there was a $2.12 return to NZ.  

The SROI ratio result is the ‘total value of all impacts’ divided by the total value of all monetised inputs. For each unit of currency invested, x units of value are produced. A value above 1 means more value is being generated for society than the investment required. A value below one means the cost of investment is greater than the value produced for society. 

Although the headline of an SROI study is often the ratio, it is important to consider the overall social value and the relative importance of activities in creating outcomes for different individuals and groups. For example, a programme may produce a high social value but also have high costs. 

Social Value Bank tool 

A Social Value Bank tool helps organisations to calculate their social value. Sport NZ’s Social Value Bank tool is specifically designed for the play, active recreation and sport sector to help organisations clearly demonstrate their impact – which is important when reaching out to funders.   

The tool calculates an SROI result for a specific sector programme, project or initiative (referred to as project in this guidance) using specific physical activity and subjective wellbeing values1.  The tool is not designed to be used with an organisation’s entire work programme, broad population studies, or large cohorts with a large variation in participants.  

To use the Sport NZ Social Value Bank tool, an organisation needs to evaluate how it helps individuals change over time. This means that organisations and those involved in managing the study must be highly committed to completing the evaluation.    

Sport NZ will work with relevant organisations to use the tool and calculate the results for a project, though we won’t undertake a whole SROI study for an organisation. 

Suitable projects for an SROI study 

To use the SROI method, you need accurate data and must meet certain requirements before starting the analysis. 

Your project needs to be small and meet these requirements: 

• Have three to four clearly defined project outcomes that you would like to value (refer to the appendix for examples). The aim of the project will help you decide on the most relevant outcomes for the study. 
• Have a clear theory of change (find out more in: Logic Models and Theory of Change | What Works). 
• Be closely connected to the participants, so you can collect information from them before and after the project is run. Each outcome will have a specific, validated question that needs to be asked twice to understand the level of change for individuals. 
• Have the staff and resources available to manage data collection.  

Seven steps 

If your project fits the criteria, you can use the Sport NZ Social Value Bank tool, following these seven steps: 

1. Identify appropriate outcomes 
2. Identify questions from the tool that match the outcomes 
3. Provide each member of the target group (that is, the individual participants) with identifier 
4. Send a short survey before the initiative begins 
5. Send a short survey at the end of the initiative 
6. Match each individual’s data before and after 
7. Provide data to Sport NZ to calculate SROI. 

Two types of SROI analysis  

There are two kinds of SROI analysis, and the Social Value Bank tool requires you to do both: 

1. An estimate analysis based on existing data and published literature – undertaken before a project starts to estimate the potential value. 
2. An evaluative SROI study – undertaken at the end of the project (or one year in) to understand the actual value generated. 

SROI estimate (pre-project delivery) 

This analysis estimates the value of the project based on research (such as literature reviews or academic papers) or the observed levels of change for your participants.  

The estimate provided is based on the total project costs and estimated change for the individuals participating in your project. 

Data collection 

To undertake an SROI estimate, you need to provide the following initial data: 

• Total number of participants, split by gender and age, and an understanding if this is for example, normal or above or below average. 
• Programme data, or an estimate (taken from observations or literature research), of the proportion of participants who could be impacted by the identified outcomes. 
• Total project costs, which include a detailed OPEX (operating expenses) and an estimate of volunteer time (if applicable). Business cases, project proposals and financials can help you work out the project costs. 

SROI evaluation (post-project delivery) 

An evaluative SROI study is based on the total project costs and evaluated change for the individuals participating in your project. It calculates the value of the project based on the actual (evaluated) change for your participants over one year.  

By following the process below, you can work out whether your project is suitable for an SROI evaluation. 

SROI evaluation requires you to evaluate your project to inform the amount of change individuals experience during the project for the identified outcomes. For example, showing the number of people increasing their confidence while participating in the project.  

The requirements for an SROI evaluation when using the Sport NZ Social Value Bank Tool are listed below.  

Data collection  

You need to:  

• Provide Sport NZ with the background context of your programme outcomes and intent, and de-identified participation data to enter into the tool. 
• Have a designated staff member to develop and drive the data collection activities, including ethics and consent.  
• Undertake a review of the SROI results. 
• Communicate the results to appropriate audiences. 

The data collected will provide what you need for the SROI evaluation, but it won’t provide enough information to evaluate the whole project. In addition, you could choose to incorporate a wider project evaluation, using your own resources to do so.

Ethics  

The Sport NZ Social Value Bank tool uses national and internationally recognised questions that give the user confidence that the tool is appropriate for the designated age groups.  

If you wish to publish your research, you will need to seek appropriate ethics approval. For guidance on this, refer to Aotearoa Research Ethics Committee – Te Roopu Rapu i te Tika, an independent ethics committee for community researchers not eligible to apply to the standing ethics committees for tertiary institutions or the health and disability sector. 

Consent  

Respondents must provide consent to participate in the SROI evaluation in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and human ethics. You are responsible for obtaining consents. 

Identifiable information 

The Sport NZ Social Value Bank tool works by collecting survey responses from the same group of people twice: Cycle 1 (C1), and up to one year later, Cycle 2 (C2). The responses are then matched so that an equation can be run for each question – to see if ‘Individual A’ has achieved change for the selected outcome.  

You must be able to carry out the following actions before Sport NZ undertakes the final calculation.  

• Hold identifiable information for individuals, including name, date of birth, physical address and email address in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the consent forms supplied to participants.  
• Ensure that personal information is protected and deleted as soon as it has fulfilled its intended purpose (up to one year). 
• Match responses from C1 and C2 for each individual respondent. 
• De-identify the data (using a code to match respondents across time). 
• Supply Sport NZ with the de-identified data for further analysis.  

Sport NZ will put the de-identified data in the tool to make the SROI calculation. 

Find out more about SROI 

If you would like to find out more about undertaking an SROI study, please contact activenz@sportnz.org.nz.  

See Guidance on applying Social Return on Investment to recreational physical activity in Aotearoa New Zealand to find out more about: 

• SROI best practice 
• how to how to interpret and use the Sport NZ national SROI study 
• what to consider when undertaking your own SROI study.  

Appendix: Social Value Bank outcomes 

(Updated 2023)  

The Social Value Bank tool contains a range of outcomes that have monetised values. This enables the user to value programmes that have specific outcomes. Each outcome has a specific validated question that you need to ask to understand the level of change for individuals.