CSACO COMMUNITY SERVICES ANALYSIS LLC ECONOMIC IMPACT AND SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT REPORTS Company Information and Services Summary PAGE CSACO OVERVIEW 1 WHAT IS SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT? 2 USING THE RESULTS OF AN ECONOMIC IMPACT / SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT ANALYSIS 5 NLADA SELECTION LETTER 8 EXISTING LEGAL AID AND SOCIAL SERVICES CLIENTS 10
ABOUT CSACO Community Services Analysis LLC (CSACO) is the leading provider of Economic Impact and Social Return on Investment Analysis in the United States. Since 2007, CSACO has completed over 100 SROI studies for local and state organizations and agencies around the country, including such clients as the State of Pennsylvania Department of Education, the State of California Department of Rehabilitation, the City of Philadelphia, United Way, United Cerebral Palsy, Habitat for Humanity, the State of Arizona Library and Public Archives, Cultural Events organizations, Community Foundations, and many Legal Aid organizations nationwide. Community Services Analysis LLC is the first organization in the United States to be a member of the SROI Network, the international Social Return on Investment standards and accreditation organization, and has been recognized by many national social services organizations such as ANCOR (the American Network of Community Options and Resources), ACCSES (the American Congress of Community Support and Employment Services), and NLADA (the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association). CSACO is also a member of the Social Investment Analysts Association and the American Evaluation Association. In 2013, following a detailed analysis of multiple Cost Benefit/Return on Investment methodologies and providers, the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association selected CSACO as their exclusive SROI analysis national partner. Community Services Analysis LLC One South Church Ave. Suite 1200 Tucson, AZ 85701 www.csaco.org Contact: John Byrnes, Principal Phone: 520.745.4440 Direct phone: 520.370.8800 email: jbyrnes@csaco.org 1
WHAT IS SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT? Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an approach to measuring and understanding the financial impact of a social services organization. While SROI is built on the logic of cost/benefit analysis, it is different in that it measures the comparable value of organizations whose results cannot be easily measured in money. SROI provides information about actual and long-term results of services, and the qualitative, quantitative, and financial information on which to base decisions about the delivery of social services by organizations. There are two types of SROI analysis: Evaluative analysis which is based on actual outputs and outcomes that have already taken place or are currently in process. This is the type of analysis current used for Legal Aid organizations under the national agreement between NLADA and CSACO. Forecast analysis - which predicts the value created when the activities meet their intended outcomes. This is the type of analysis used in the new Strategic Advocacy and Legal Aid/Social Services Cooperative Effort economic impact analysis reports offered by CSACO. An SROI analysis can take many different forms. It can encompass the social value generated by an entire organization, or focus on just one specific aspect of the organization s work. SROI analysis has been developing since the 1960 s. The SROI process has become more fully developed and internationally accepted during the last decade, primarily based on multi-year studies conducted by The SROI Network, The New Economics Foundation, New Philanthropy Capital, the National Council on Voluntary Organization, and the Government of Scotland. Community Services Analysis LLC is the first organization in the United States to be a member of the SROI Network and the Social Impact Analysts Association. 2
The History of SROI and the Development of An Internationally Standardized Valuation Methodology SROI has existed as a conceptual research area for over 60 years. The First True Comprehensive Measurement Process; The Government of Scotland 1990 s Development of a Standardized Methodology: The establishment of the SROI Network Release of the initial SROI Methodology paper 2001 Release of the first SROI Methodology Framework draft - 2004 Release of finalized SROI Methodology Framework 2005 Measuring Value 2nd Edition Published 2008 Currently the SROI International economic impact/social return on investment model is the internationally accepted and accredited standard in over 20 countries including the U.K., Canada, France, Japan, Russia, Australia, Italy, Sweden, South Africa, and many others. 3
There are two separate phases of SROI: Phase 1 is the measurement of the value delivered to the community by the services currently being delivered by the organization (the Outputs ). The most accurate and understandable measurement basis for these outputs is the Fair Market Value of the services being delivered - what it would cost the community to acquire the same services that a social service provider delivers if that provider did not exist plus the value of benefits received during the immediate period under study. This result is a measurement of the comparative efficiency of the organization in delivering or providing the services. Phase 2 is the measurement of the long-term value of the results of these output services delivered known as the Outcomes. These measurements may take years to realize. For example, people with disabilities who receive training on independent living skills and how to more fully integrate within the community require significantly less financial support from the community over the course of their lives. By way of another example, people who receive assistance in finding and retaining employment require less future financial support from their communities, plus their future demands on the law enforcement and legal systems are less, their future needs for community-based medical assistance are less, and their future tax payments are greater. A SROI analysis can fulfill a range of purposes. It can be used as a tool for strategic planning, as a basis for funding and investment decisions, as a basis for communicating impact and financial results to stakeholders, and as a methodology for comparative evaluation of an organization s long-term effectiveness. While not the only basis for funding and investment decisions, the SROI results provide the most accurate and comprehensible answer to three of the important questions asked by funding decision makers: What are the long term economic impacts from these services? What are the financial benefits we receive for our funding? What is the measurable bang for the buck? 4
USING THE RESULTS OF A SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT ANALYSIS (A SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN BY LEGAL AID ORGANIZATIONS, DISABILITY SERVICES PROVIDERS, LIBRARIES, AND OTHER SOCIAL SERVICE GROUPS TO UTILIZE THE RESULTS OF THEIR CSACO SROI PROJECT RESULTS) PROOF OF VALUE TO FUNDING SOURCES GRANT APPLICATIONS SROI included in grant applications to show financial value of program. SROI in specific areas of interest (i.e. Domestic Violence, Housing, Public Benefits). DONATION VALIDATIONS SROI reports focused on specific areas of interest. TAX-BASED PROOF OF VALUE Information packets and summary reports to legislators. Value by legislative district reports. Grassroots lobbying handouts. COMMUNICATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS Inclusion of results in their annual reports. Inclusion of results in their quarterly newsletters. Distribution of copies of summary reports. Flyers for handouts at service locations. Inclusion of summary results on their website. Social media (primarily Facebook and Twitter). COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMUNITY Inclusion of summary results on their website. Copies of summary reports openly available at organization offices. Flyers for handouts at service locations and public events. 5
PUBLIC MEDIA Newspaper articles on the values of services (short and long-term values). Demonstration of value to the community, stability of organization, and number of people affected. INTERNAL STRATEGIC PLANNING Importance of services analysis: - Adjustment of lines of services and future resource allocations. - Adjustment of qualification levels for Legal Aid services. - Value of potential new services. - Economic benefit of mergers/acquisitions. INTERNAL EMPLOYEE BENEFITS There has been a surprising number of comments from internal employees at multiple service organizations on how they did not realize how valuable their services were and how important their services are to their community. This has been a significant morale booster. INTERNAL CONTROL DEVELOPMENT Almost every social service organization (over 90%) has realized from the project process that their internal controls need enhancement (primarily in the areas of outcome reporting also known as outcome codes for Legal Aid groups) and increased management oversight in the area of data entry (i.e. the recording of case type codes for LegalAid matters or problem codes for Disability providers). Increasing the completeness and accuracy of the daily transaction entries (particularly in the entries by volunteer personnel) will provide the additional level of information needed for more accurate value calculations. VOLUNTEER LAWYER RECRUITMENT Proof of value to the potential community for pro bono results provides additional incentive for volunteers to become involved. 6
STRATEGIC ADVOCACY VALUE ANALYSIS RESULTS (a new areas of value analysis for Legal Aid) - Analysis of potential value resulting from strategic advocacy efforts. - Projections of cost and service level increases resulting from the achievement of strategic advocacy goals. COOPERATIVE OR PARTNERSHIP EFFORTS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS - Proof of value of integrated services. - Proof of value to joint effort partners in the results of proposed development activities (i.e. partnering between Legal Aid groups and local social service organizations to target the use of legal services). - Calculation of costs and funding requirements for projected increases in service demands based on actual experience. 7
Dear NLADA Member: I am pleased to share with you a new benefit for NLADA members. As those of you know who attended our presentation during the NLADA Equal Justice Conference in St. Louis, NLADA has entered into an agreement with Community Services Analysis LLC (CSACO) to provide Social Return on Investment analysis services to NLADA member organizations. Social Return on Investment (SROI) is an approach to measuring and understanding the impact of a nonprofit social services organization. While SROI is built on the logic of cost/benefit analysis, it is different in that it is designed to measure the comparable accountability and value of organizations whose results cannot always be measured in money. This approach provides accurate and understandable results that programs can use to communicate to funders and stakeholders the benefits that inure to the provision of civil legal services to the poor. Our partnership with CSACO followed an investigation and review of CSACO s completed projects for Legal Aid organizations operating in the State of Arizona. CSACO s approach and methodology is data driven, developing data from the bottom up and analyzing it in detail. CSACO s work entailed providing each organization with a comprehensive report, along with all of the raw data analysis. The Arizona programs indicate that they have only begun to tap into the benefits of the report but already have been used in several strategic planning areas. As a result of the efforts of the Arizona Legal Aid programs (Community Legal Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, and DNA People s Legal Services), and the funding provided by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education, CSACO was able to develop a legal aid specific template thereby allowing CSACO to capture economic factors and impact specific to individual service areas and providers. The template is making it possible for CSACO to provide the same type of report and services to other legal aid programs at a greatly reduced price. To make this service available to its membership, NLADA has negotiated a flat fee rate of $8,500 for all NLADA members. This fee includes each subsidiary office within your organization and provides individual reports for each office, as well as a consolidated report for your entire operation. This standardized approach will allow each legal services organization to realize the benefits of these studies for their own localized fundraising, stakeholder relations, and strategic planning actions. Indeed, the detailed analysis makes it possible to talk to legislative officials about the SROI for legal services in their particular district, if you so desire. It will also allow NLADA to deliver these same benefits on a national basis using detailed data and a consistent methodology. In this information age, it is more important than ever to develop mechanisms to better measure and communicate the value of their work. The SROI analysis is an approach that offers a great promise to 8
the civil legal services community in demonstrating to funding sources and the public that our operations are efficient, cost-effective, and provides measurable value to our communities. I encourage each of you to contact CSACO as soon as possible to participate in a SROI study. Beyond the significant benefits this analysis can bring to your individual organization, the prospect of national valuation of legal services using consistent comparable data could be game changing for legal services funding at the local and national levels. Please contact John Byrnes, the Principal of Community Services Analysis, for more information and sample report information. His email is mailto:j.byrnes@csaco.org and his direct telephone number is 520.370.8800. Sincerely, Jo-Ann Wallace President & CEO 9
COMPLETED LEGAL AID ECONOMIC IMPACT and SOCIAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT PROJECTS Community Legal Services Southern Arizona Legal Aid DNA Peoples Legal Services (Arizona) Phoenix, AZ Tucson, AZ Window Rock, NM Plus: Consolidated SROI report for Arizona by Legislative District Bet Tzedek Legal Services Colorado Legal Aid Justice & Diversity Center Legal Aid of Nebraska Sonoma County Legal Aid Legal Aid for Seniors/ Family Support Services of the Bay Area Corinne Wolfe Children s Law Center Los Angeles, Ca Statewide (14 offices) San Francisco, CA Statewide (8 Offices) Santa Rosa, CA Oakland, CA Disability Law Center Salt Lake City, UT Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake Salt Lake City, UT Utah Legal Services Salt Lake City, UT Plus: Consolidated SROI report for Utah Alabama Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program Legal Services Alabama Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program Plus: Consolidated SROI report for Alabama Montgomery, AL Birmingham, AL Montgomery, AL Huntsville, AL Mobile, AL DNA Peoples legal Services (New Mexico) Disability Rights New Mexico Enlace Comunitario Law Access New Mexico New Mexico Legal Aid New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty Pegasus Legal Services for Children Senior Citizens Law Office United South Broadway Plus: Consolidated SROI report for New Mexico Window Rock, NM 10
Sample SROI Projects Completed (for non-legal Aid organizations) Alabama Network of Family Resource Centers (multiple organizations) United Cerebral Palsy (multiple organizations) United Way (multiple organizations) Philadelphia Mayor s Office of Community Services (multiple organizations) Habitat for Humanity Arizona State Library (multiple organizations) State of California Department of Rehabilitation (multiple organizations) Mainstream Living Centers MARC Centers (multiple projects) Mesa Community Colleges (Gates Foundation) Options Family of Services Pennsylvania Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (multiple organizations) Primavera Foundation Community Services Economic Impacts (multiple years) Prairie Center for the Arts Cultural Events Economic Impacts 11