Problem that matters

Organisations in Brent, a multi-cultural borough in Northwest London of 350,000 population (& home of Wembley)

• Council for Voluntary Services (CVS): purpose – help 550 Voluntary, Community & Social Enterprises (VCSEs) in Brent build their skills and access funding
  • PROBLEM to SOLVE:
    • Develop a Social Impact Strategy to help VCSEs improve their services
    • Secure funding for three years to implement strategy
• 550 VCSEs in Brent: purpose – provide essential health, social care and other community services to clients
  • PROBLEM TO SOLVE: Develop their capacity to provide services & measure Social Impact
    • All VCSEs: measure Social Impact to improve performance and qualify for funding
    • Established VCSEs: improve Social Impact measurement to qualify for higher value government grants and service contracts to provide sustainable services

Innovative solution

Using the Social Impact Game framework to secure CVS’s funding for four years:

1. Purpose: Clarity about CVS’s purpose and problem to solve
2. Plan: Focus on problem of setting Social Impact Strategy and selling it to stakeholders, including funders
3. People: engage with stakeholders & align with their ‘bigger picture’
4. Practice: create a ‘Digitise & Optimise’ 3-year programme with standards for measuring, tracking and reporting Social Impact
5. Performance: showcase potential impact to funders and get commitment to use Social Impact strategy and measure Social Value

Making impact happen

CVS Brent

• Created a three-year Digitise & Optimise programme to build capacity of CVS to deliver services to VCSEs
• Got buy-in from stakeholders
• Projected to double the number of VCSE clients they can serve in three years, using the SIG framework & technology
• Developed process for scaling services and focusing effort on high value work to increase Social Impact and performance
• Secured funding worth £740k over four years