About the Institute for Social Value
Our Mission: Creating a future where value reflects purpose beyond profit.
Our Vision: A world where social value is at the heart of every decision
promoting the wellbeing of individuals, communities and the planet.
Our Values: Courage, Integrity, Collaboration and Leadership.
Part of the global organisation Social Value International (established in 2011) with affiliate networks in 29 territories in over 60 countries with 3,000+ members across sectors in Asia, Europe, Australasia, North America and Africa.
Established in Scotland in 2007 as a Company Limited by Guarantee (a not-for-profit). All of our profits are re-invested for the benefit of our membership.
The professional body for social value and impact management in the United Kingdom (formerly Social Value UK).
- A politically neutral Learned Society, recognised as such by the UK Government.
- Promoting global impact management standards – The Eight Principles of Social Value:
- We prioritise outcomes over tick-boxing outputs
- We oppose social value washing
- We place stakeholders at the centre
- We look at net impact
- We measure in order to manage; we focus on legacy
- We offer support on how to apply a range of social value measurement tools
2025–2026 Strategic Objectives
Overarching objective: To become the go-to organisation for social value
- Mobilise a movement
- Grow a diverse membership
- Develop clear membership journeys/experience
- Campaign to strengthen policy and regulation for social value
- Engage in global conversations
- Strengthen revenues, governance and human capital
- Secure brand reputation, intellectual property, corporate knowledge retention
Priorities 2025–2026
- Maximise our social value – Mobilise a movement, Engage in global conversations
- Grow our membership – Grow a diverse membership
- Protect and strengthen our reputation – Secure brand reputation, intellectual property, and corporate knowledge retention
- Increase our profitability – Strengthen revenues, governance, and human capital
What is Social Value?
Social Value is a broader understanding of value. It moves beyond using money as the main indicator of value, instead putting the emphasis on engaging people to understand the impact of decisions on their lives. The people’s perspective is critical.
Organisations will always create good and bad experiences, but on balance should aim to create a net positive impact in the present and for a sustainable future. They should measure their impacts and use this understanding to make better decisions for people.
Who we are
Social Value UK was established in 2007 as a membership organisation, then known as the Social Return on Investment (SROI) Network.
It represented a group of individuals who advocated for a way of measuring the impact of decisions beyond the balance sheet – pioneered by our experts.
Our membership is still at the core of who we are, and we are shaped by a community of experts and practitioners. We also welcome new members, including our growing Organisational Membership, who not only contribute to this community, but can use the acquired knowledge to make more decisions informed by their social impacts.
What our members are saying
“Being a member of Social Value UK has been a valuable source of support and guidance on our social value journey, and through the networks, newsletters and events helps me to keep on top of the latest developments in this exciting and rapidly developing space.”
“Being a member of SVUK connects me to a network of like-minded professionals all working toward the same agenda – doing more good and changing the world for the better – and this is very empowering! There are no two ways about it, this is the place to be during these times of change.”
Individual
Organisation
Partners
Individual Membership
Individual Members are an integral part of our community — as experts, practitioners and advocates. The Individual Membership is designed to support those wishing to, or already working, as social value professionals.
As an Individual Member you can expect to be guided through training, accreditation, and more, to help you in your career. Also of particular use to our Individual Members is the joint membership to Social Value International, the standard setters for practice across the globe and who offer regular opportunities for members to convene and contribute to the conversation.
Organisational Membership
The need and desire to measure social value is growing and with it, our membership.
Organisations at all levels want to better understand, manage and be responsive to the impact they have on people and planet.
A strong social value ethos or framework has become essential for those competing for public sector contracts, but more and more companies are coming alive to the benefits around staff wellbeing and productivity that social value management can bring.
Organisations benefit from all the Individual benefits as well as a suite of additional benefits.
Partner Membership
Social Value Partners are organisations who have made strides in social value, either core to it’s mission or through their business activities and accounting. They are organisations ready to collaborate with us, to share skills and assets to lead the movement forward. We might, for example, co-design training, deliver workshops, host events together, campaign for progress, and work towards our vision; a world where every organisation makes more decisions that are informed by their social impacts.
A Social Value Partner Membership is defined by the work we do together and prices are determined as per Organisational Membership, or based on the nature of the collaboration. If you are interested in joining as a Social Value Partner Member and helping us achieve our mission to change the way the world accounts for value contact us.
Upcoming Events
Social Value UK hosts a collection of events throughout the year. Particularly popular is our Introduction to Social Value UK, which is free for anyone to book. We also host a series of member-only events as well as publicly available conferences or webinars, to meet the curiosity of anyone, no matter what point of their Social Value Journey they’re on. Click below to book upcoming live events, or view past events in the Resources Library or Blog section.
Getting Started with Social Value 25 & 26 June 2025
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