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Impact assessment is not a vital task that directly determines the existence of a business. Therefore, evaluation is yet to become a mandatory element of social enterprise projects. However, according to many experts, as well as the experience of those who have already made a conscious choice of a professional “reflection” of the results of their work, it significantly increases development opportunities and prospects. In this article we are going to talk about the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs in the evaluation of their projects, and the benefits they can get in return.


NEW CHALLENGES
Social entrepreneurship is still a relatively new sector in Russia: as of August 2022, only 6,921 social enterprises (SEs) had been registered in the country. Moscow region, with 722 SEs registered, is the leader among the regions. It is followed by the Republic of Bashkortostan with 362 social enterprises, Nizhny Novgorod with 324, KhantyMansi Autonomous Okrug (Yugra) and Primorsky Krai. These businesses mostly operate in areas like education, social work, environment, information technology, medicine and health.
According to a study by the ZIRCON group 1 , despite their small numbers, social entrepreneurs already note underwhelming investment in the social sector and the lack of impact investors. They also mention underdeveloped relationships between social entrepreneurs and the state, lack of visibility of their products in the production of goods and services, lack of large and mediumsized businesses interested in developing social entrepreneurship, and difficulties with obtaining loans.
The first time social enterprises faced great difficulties was in 20202021, during the COVID19 pandemic. According to a study conducted by Impact Hub Moscow in partnership with experts from the Graduate School of Management at St. Petersburg State University and the University of Massachusetts Boston, 10% of social entrepreneurs surveyed have experienced a reduction in external funding. 82% of innovations in this area were implemented mainly with their own funds, the efforts of their employees and internal developments. Commercial and hybrid organizations during the pandemic focused on strategies to improve efficiency -optimizing costs and business processes. Nonprofit organizations, in turn, placed greater emphasis on attracting nonprofit funding.
Clearly, the teams and leaders of many social enterprises have been in a position of survival rather than rapid growth for many years. At the same time, according to the "Social Entrepreneurship in Russia: Prospects for Development" study, hopes for the further development of social entrepreneurship are pinned not only on external stakeholdersgovernment, big business, private foundations, but also on the consumers of their services and social effect -also known as impact, or social impact.
For the consumer, of course, it is of primary importance that the consumer's problem is solved in the quickest and most efficient way possible. And identifying this way, among other things, includes the need to evaluate one's activities: the emergence of indemand goods and services is based on the needs of the target audience. Actively working with consumers to identify their "pains" and requests and creating new goods and services based on them is the driving force of social entrepreneurship development.

DO WE (NOT) NEED IT?
Large businesses and the nonprofit sector are actively using assessment and have had notable success in doing so. This is dictated primarily by the need to publish regular public reports and meet performance standards.
The teams and leaders of many social enterprises have been in a position of survival rather than rapid growth for many years. Hopes are pinned, including on the consumers of their services.
"Gold Standard" of impact assessment in 2021a collection of cases and practices for measuring the social and environmental impact of business.
When it comes to business, there are a large number of methodological approaches that can be used to assess various aspects of its social impact. It is worth noting the four main methods that have the highest potential for application in the corporate context: "Theory of Change," the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) model, formerly known as the London Benchmarking Group, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) model, and the Impact Management Project.
The situation is different in the sector of social entrepreneurship: only a small proportion of entrepreneurs are engaged in assessing the social effect of their activities. First, because existing approaches to impact assessment in the business community are too complex and resourceintensive for social entrepreneurs, and there is no universal assessment standard for their business. Second, few SE leaders see the point and benefit of this action. More often than not, social business grows from the enthusiasm of its founders, who build it up against all odds, using their own resources and blazing with the desire to "commit good." The purpose of such a business is to address a specific social problem. This begs the question: Why measure anything at all? The business somehow works, the problem is somehow solved. The team is focused on addressing operational tasks, and has no time or resources for analysis and reflection.
Third, the resulting social effect will not necessarily be positive; it can as well be zero or negative. This factor can be a deterrent to the decision to conduct assessment. It can especially affect the decisionmaking in hybrid projectsnonprofit organizations that open commercial activities as part of their overall operations. Our hypothesis is that nonprofits are obliged to follow their Articles of Association, which clearly set out the organization's goals and objectives of the organization, its target audiences and their problems, which the organization addresses. If, however, impact assessment shows that the кейсов и практик по измерению социального и экологического воздействия бизнеса.
There are a large number of methodological approaches that can be used to assess various aspects of the social impact of business.
project has an impact on a completely different target group or does not solve the stated problem at all, this can cast doubts on the entire organization's activity and can have a negative impact on its image.
However, it is worth noting that this is a false logical connection. No active and developing organization can be absolutely constant in its goals and objectives. Even a zero effect is certainly not something to be ashamed or, even more so, to shut down the project, but an incentive to rethink the strategy and look for new points of growth.
Publishing any evaluation results is important not only to share the results with beneficiaries, partners and colleagues, but also to inform the sector about the risks, nonworking solutions and to warn against mistakes. After all, when a business, including a social business, begins to grow, its team has an urgent need for effective management, datadriven decisionmaking, and the development of a communication strategy. These processes require not just standard business indicators such as revenue and profit, but also indicators of impact, which is one of the main results of the social enterprise.
Planning, conducting, and publishing a social impact assessment are primarily necessary for business itself. These processes enable the project leader and team to see that they need the project, to understand the depth and scope of the stated social problem, and to find new communication objectives, development vectors and ways to scale.
The impact assessment also directly affects the possibility of attracting additional funding: a clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people's lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise's investment appeal.
In addition to these quite obvious effects, it is also one more reason to be proud of yourself and the team. It is often overlooked, but motivating the team, showing the result of its work is an important task of every leader. на совершенно иную целевую группу или вообще не решает заявленную проблему, кажется, что это ставит под сомнение всю деятельность НКО и может оказать негативное влияние на ее имидж.
A clear presentation of the real impact of the project on people's lives and the environment is the best proof of the social enterprise's investment appeal.

HOW DO YOU APPROACH ASSESSMENT?
Social impact assessment must consider all types of effects: positive and negative, immediate and delayed, expected and unpredictable. In this case, the assessment can use both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Collection methods can vary accordingly.
A generalized plan of action that could be used by social entrepreneurs of all types and scales would look like this: • Developing a theory of change; • Identification of social impact indicators that will need to be worked on in order to get the desired results; • Data collection and analysis; • Presentation of assessment results; • Use of assessment results for management decision making.
The first point in this plan and an important tool is a theory of change -that is, a clear description of the intended relationship between activities and the results we hope to achieve. The theory of change explains the reasons why certain approaches are used and how these approaches will lead to the desired changes 3 .
Working on a theory of change helps understand what problem the project is solving and, therefore, what its team intends to change. Usually at this stage the team makes a problem tree and highlights the big goal. The next step is to identify the assumptions, or conditions necessary to achieve these goals. Then comes the process of reverse mapping, that is, comparing and combining the results and compiling a list of external conditions and internal processes that are also necessary to achieve the goal. The process is completed with the 3 Annie E. Casey Foundation (2022)  Первый пункт в данном плане и важный инструмент -теория изменений, то есть ясное описание предполагаемых взаимосвязей между действиями и результатами, которых мы надеемся достичь. Теория изменений объясняет причины того, почему используются те или иные подходы, а также каким образом эти подходы приведут к желаемым изменениям.
Работа над ней помогает понять, какую проблему решает проект и что, тем самым, его команда хочет изменить. Обычно на данном этапе команда составляет дерево проблем и выделяет большую цель. Далее следует этап выявления допущений -условий, которые необходимы, чтобы достичь этих целей. После этого наступает процесс обратного картирования, то есть сопоставления и объединения результатов и составления списка внешних условий и внутренних процессов, которые также обязательны для достижения цели. (2022)  identification of success indicators and activities, "interventions" that will help achieve the intermediate objectives and ultimately the goals. First of all, the theory of change is necessary when planning activities. However, this tool is also worth "checking up" with at the growth stage, and possibly even after the closure of business -this will help to understand how the current state of affairs corresponds to the declared objectives, and what went wrong in the case of project closure. The next step is to determine the indicators of social impact. It is worth noting here that Russia does not have a single standard or mandatory set of metrics to be assessed. Everything depends on the specifics of the social enterprise, its business model and development stage. For some social businesses, collecting and assessing 3 or 4 metrics is sufficient, while for others, with a more complex structure, 20 or even 30 quantitative and qualitative indicators may not be enough.

Annie E. Casey Foundation
The decision to conduct a social impact assessment for the first time and the desire to make this process a regular one are strongly influenced by the challenges in collecting data for analysis. Often organizations simply do not have sufficient time, money and human resources to interview beneficiaries and clients, systematize and analyze the information gathered. In this case, it may be advisable not to try to fit the entire evaluation process into a limited period of time, but to make it a daily or at least weekly part of the normal work process. Doing small things on a regular basis, such as compiling and analyzing questionnaires, will enable conducting impact assessment without major shocks to the team and budget.
The final stage is the publication and use of the data. Not all of the assessment results can be presented publicly -some of the indicators may remain for internal use. But as a rule, if an organization has done such work, it will want to share the results.
Whether or not to post the report in public domain is a matter for the project team to decide. But what you definitely shouldn't do is create a report just for the sake of a report. This practice is unproductive. The report data can help answer Завершает процесс определение индикаторов успеха и действий, «вмешательств», которые помогут достичь задач и затем целей.

Russia doesn't have a single standard or mandatory set of metrics to be assessed. Everything depends on the specifics of the enterprise, its business model and development stage.
many questions and should not be neglected. The work you've done will help you look at the organization from above and see what could have been done more efficiently, with fewer resources, and with greater benefit to clients and beneficiaries.
Another important question is whether you should compare your report with other reports? Once again, this is something to be decided individually, but it is worth remembering that social business is not homogeneous and works with very different problems and target audiences. Social entrepreneurs have different resources and are also territorially specific. If you decided a comparison is needed, it is better to analyze the reports of a particular organization in different periods of time and observe the activity in dynamics, to assess the changes that have occurred with it over time.
The reasonable frequency of assessment depends on the resources available for such work and the maturity of the organization.

WHO TO LOOK UP TO
Social impact assessment can take a project to the next level and become a competitive advantage. So far few social entrepreneurs have taken this approach, but we already have someone to look up to.

If you decided a comparison is needed, it is better to analyze the reports of a particular organization in different periods of time and observe the activity in dynamics.
of preliminary work). "Impact measurement is a must. It helps develop the organization, work on internal efficiency and make processes cheaper," emphasizes Everland cofounder Elena Martynova. Another important factor to pay attention to is that the company reports cover a period starting from 2019, which allows you to trace the dynamics of its activity. For example, in 2019, the agency employed 84 people. By 2021 this number had grown to 390. Also, three years ago, the team noted that with the launch of the special testing and training platform, the cost of integrating a person into the work process dropped more than threefold -from 120,000 to 36,000 rubles. Today that cost is probably even lower.
What else is important about the Everland example? Its hybrid nature. The social part of the project is represented by "Equal Opportunity Space" ANO, while the business component is represented by EVERLAND LLC. In its reports, the project combines both the experience of nonprofit organizations regularly publishing performance data and the business metrics inherent in the commercial part of the project.
It is worth noting that assessment does not always have to be presented as a separate report. Instead, information about the social impact of the business can be published in the "About Us" section of the project website. That's what the Bright City Children's Center team, founded by Nadezhda Samoilova, did. These are the only kindergartens of the kind for children with special needs in St. Petersburg, which offer intensive correction, development, school preparation and socialization activities.
Another example is BuySocial, a platform that brings together products from social enterprises. BuySocial producers give jobs to people with disabilities and the elderly in remote areas; they care for nature and preserve cultural heritage, and donate profits to charity. The project team proudly states right on their website's front page that in 2021 the company provided jobs for 452 people from vulnerable groups, sold more than 32,600 units of products from 41 social enterprises from 11 regions of Russia 6 .
According to Lubov Ermolaeva, the project founder, the team conducts social impact assessment primarily to make sure they are still on the right track as a social business. For BuySocial, this is expressed primarily as the number of social enterprises to which they gave orders and their production volumes, and the number of people who received gifts and thus became consumers of products with meaning, on the other. The company also identifies deeper social effects: how its orders affect not only social enterprises and their financial performance, but also those people from vulnerable groups, for which the platform was created.
Another link in the chain of recipients of the assessment are the company's corporate clients. Big and small businesses buying gifts from BuySocial are also interested in getting data on how they affect their surroundings. This, too, is an important point: when many organizations are integrated into such a chain, a miniecosystem is formed, and the overall social effect becomes greater.
Impact Hub Moscow, of course, is also involved in the evaluation work. In 2021, we evaluated the results achieved by the Start Different 2018 2020 program participants 7 . This work was done to determine future development of the program, identify growth points and expand the target Сейчас в сети три детских центра, проект имеет хороший потенциал для масштабирования, что позволяет распространить социальный эффект и в другие регионы.

MANAGE WHAT YOU CAN MEASURE
For our part, we at Impact Hub Moscow are trying to increase the percentage of organizations that publish such reports and are actively fostering a culture of social impact assessment for both aspiring and existing social entrepreneurs. The first time they encounter this is at the screening stage for our training programs: in the application form, the entrepreneur must describe, among other questions in the questionnaire, the proposed solutions in terms of their impact on the target audience. Next, we diagnose and collect indicators before and after the programs, as well as 612 months after the end of the programs. This helps not only to assess the social impact of participating projects, but also the impact of our work on their performance. In addition, all Impact Hub Moscow programs include a module on social impact. Participants elaborate theories of change for their projects, which helps them articulate their mission more clearly and use the theory of change for the monitoring and evaluation process.
In the near future, one of our main tasks is to develop an algorithm for incorporating social impact assessment procedures into the social entrepreneurs' operations. These should be transparent and include tools that social entrepreneurs can use without outside expert support, embedding information collection and monitoring procedures into existing business processes.
One of the stages of the work is to create a matrix of indicators in relation to the project's work area, development stage, and evaluation goals. The matrix of indicators is the right form for this stage, because as the business develops, the indicator set may change, and the number of indicators can either go up or down.