Principle 1: Involve Stakeholders

Inform what gets measured and how this is measured and valued in an account of social value by involving stakeholders.

Stakeholders are those people or organisations that experience change as a result of your activity – and they are best placed to describe the change. This Principle means that stakeholders need to be identified and then consulted throughout the analysis.

This document sets out SVI’s Standard for applying Principle 1: Involve Stakeholders. Involving stakeholders is at the heart of accounting for value, and plays a key role in how you apply the other Principles of Social Value.

The Standard focuses on involving all stakeholders (not only intended beneficiaries) who experience change in their lives (outcomes) as a result of an activity or intervention.

Useful guidance:

 

Building Capacity for Engaging Stakeholders to Better Understand and Manage Social Impact

Read the culminating insights focused on capacity building necessary for meaningful stakeholder engagement. This white paper developed by the Peer Learning Partnership for the OECD Global Action highlights three main areas where significant attention is needed in order to build capacity for meaningful stakeholder engagement: governance and decision making, skills, and culture.

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Towards an Enabling Environment for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement: Levers for Government and Public Policy

This white paper developed by the Peer Learning Partnership for the OECD Global Action Initiative focuses on policy levers and corresponding governmental roles and actions to ensure stakeholder engagement is meaningful to all participants.

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Putting Stakeholders in the Center: A Global Research and Feedback Initiative About Applying Best Practices for Measuring and Managing Social and Environmental Impacts

This Global Research and Feedback initiative comprises a cross-sector peer learning partnership of 26 organizations spanning 13 countries, with a common aim of amplifying stakeholder voices and improving accountability in impact measurement and management (IMM).The initiative promotes efforts to improve stakeholder involvement in the design, implementation, evaluation, and impact management of programs, products, and services

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Impact Management Project: Using self-reported data for impact measurement

This document provides practitioners with easy-to-use survey tools that aid measurement of the five dimensions of impact and make it easier to infuse meaningful impact data into business decision-making.

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World Economic Forum: Engaging All Affected Stakeholders – Guidance for investors, funders, and organizations

This document is a collaborative effort by several individuals and organizations, who came together to help provide guidance on how and where stakeholder engagement practice should evolve. It suggests some of the many ways in which the voices of all affected stakeholders can be gathered – and then used to draw lessons, inform decisions, and develop strong relationships with those affected. This document references existing tools, resources, and examples of practice as of 2017 about engaging all affected stakeholders, bringing them all together into one document

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OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the Extractive Sector

The OECD has prepared a Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the Extractive Sector intended to provide practical guidance to mining, oil and gas enterprises in addressing the challenges related to stakeholder engagement.

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AA1000 AccountAbility Principles

The AA1000AP (2018) is an internationally accepted, principles-based framework that guides organizations through the process of identifying, prioritizing, and responding to sustainability challenges, with the goal of improving long-term performance.

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Stakeholder engagement: if it’s not transferring power, don’t bother

Read this article written by Jeremy Nicholls on stakeholder engagement in Pioneers Post’s Nicholls & Dimes series.

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