a two-year implementation of the results of an independent external evaluation of the foundation's grant competition conducted in 2019. It is important that despite all the events happening in the country and the world, we continue to develop the theme of evaluation, increasingly promoting the principles of evidence-based social design, emphasizing that positive changes in the lives of beneficiaries, communities and territories is the main purpose of NPO activities,” — says
Alena Bogomolova, head of the Resource and Methodology Center of the Way Home charity foundation of the Severstal company, member of the Management Board of Association of Program and Policy Evaluators.
According to the expert, specialists from the foundation's Resource and Methodology Center traditionally work with all new grantees on logical models or chains of social results of projects at the beginning of their implementation. In 2022, the level of training for beginners has increased significantly and the time for this work took half as much as in previous years.
“For us, the question of how to implement a culture of evaluation in an organization is always relevant. This year we added blocks about monitoring and evaluation to the social design training seminars. Thus, when working on social design skills, even those entering the topic for the first time immediately perceive monitoring and evaluation as integral processes in their work. We tested this program in seven districts of the Vologda Region,” said Alena Bogomolova.
The fourth prize in this category was won by the Our Future Foundation for systematizing methods and programs in the field of evaluating the social and economic effectiveness of social enterprises and impact investors. In 2022, the foundation conducted a sample study of the social impact of social entrepreneurs' projects in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra[26]. Three projects were selected for the study: X–Land computer club (Nizhnevartovsk), Seven Dwarfs kindergarten (Nefteyugansk) and Botanica Bar (Nizhnevartovsk). In 2016–2018, these companies participated in a pilot project to develop the social investment market in the region.
The method used by the experts is the Social Return on Investment, or SROI. The Our Future Foundation is adapting it to Russian conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of impact investments. The data from this study helps investors and project managers understand how effectively funds are spent to create a social result.
The foundation has been applying the social impact assessment approach for 15 years, making decisions to fund socially transformative projects in the form of interest-free loans[27].
Natalia Zvereva, director of the Our Future Foundation, notes that in 2022 the discussion of approaches to assessing the social impact intensified. First of all, this is related to the discussion of the specifics of social enterprises of various legal forms. Competencies in determining the approach to social impact assessment at the level of professional standards in the field of social entrepreneurship are important.
“Our experience shows that there is no universal methodology for assessing social impact, because there are differences in approaches for enterprises of different legal forms, different types of activities. For example, it is difficult to evaluate sports and social service projects using the same approach. As part of the Aksel.Sotszakaz accelerator, we saw confirmation of this thesis. The emphasis on industry specifics is one of the important trends in the development of this topic,” says Natalia Zvereva.
Another trend is the attempt to simplify the SROI method, to separate stakeholder approaches to determining the social impact. “Assessment of the social impact for the purpose of receiving state support and for the purpose of attracting investment may have different criteria. For example, in the first case, the principle of “social impact assessment in exchange for a measure of support” can be used. The topic of social impact assessment approaches is also relevant due to the fact that the quality of people's lives remains the number one priority in any initiative,” the expert explains.
GLOBAL VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF EVALUATION AND SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY OF PRACTITIONERS
Alexey Kuzmin, CEO of Process Consulting, received an award in the Personal Contribution to the Development of Social Projects and Programs Evaluation category for his development of the project and program evaluation market, active participation in evaluation method development programs, and educational activities on his professional blog.
Alexey Kuzmin has worked as an organizational development and program evaluation consultant since 1987. Member of the American Evaluation Association since 1999, member of the Russian Association of Program and Policy Evaluators. He has supervised the evaluation of more than 100 programs and projects in 20 countries.
What important things happened in the field of evaluation in Russia and the world in 2022? According to award winner Alexey Kuzmin, one of the notable events was the opening of the International Evaluation Academy[28].
“This is a global movement of volunteers seeking to increase the impact of evaluation on meaningful decision-making, the professionalization of evaluation, and its transformative impact. The academy is focused on innovation in the way evaluation is designed and used to solve complex economic, social, and environmental sustainability problems. The academy's board and advisory council includes several dozen specialists from all continents. It is planned to support fellows who will conduct development in priority areas for the academy.
I think that the academy has every chance to play an important role in the development of evaluation in the world,” believes Alexey Kuzmin.
If we talk about significant events in our country, the expert notes the PROOTSENKA club, whose online meetings are held monthly under the motto “Interesting Conversation in Good Company[29].”
“The club's mission is to support a community of practitioners dedicated to integrating evaluation into the work of socially oriented organizations. Nothing is required to participate in the meetings except the desire. Education, level of training in evaluation, and practical experience are not important. The organizers of the club strive to choose topics that are important from a practical point of view, to give participants new information, to use a variety of formats of work, to maintain an
