On December 7, 2022, the first annual award of the Positive Changes, a popular science journal about impact investments and social impact assessment, was presented. The award recognizes experts, journal contributors, and organizations for their input into the development of social and economic impact assessment. Read our article about who received the award and what for, how the winners of the award remembered 2022 in terms of impact and development of evaluation methodology, and what key events and new approaches can be highlighted.

Yulia Vyatkina

Editor, Positive Changes Journal

ABOUT THE AWARD AND THE NOMINEES

The award was organized by the Positive Changes Factory, the founder of the Positive Changes Journal, with the support of partners: Association of Volunteer Centers, Wowhouse branding agency and Gladway Foundation of Development of Media Projects and Social Programs. The awards was presented as part of the #Myvmeste 2022 International Forum of Civic Participation. Winners were announced in six categories.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today,” says Chinese wisdom. So it is never too late to make a dream come true or to make the world at least a little bit better. A planted tree is sure to produce a harvest.

As was noted by Natalia Gladkikh, editor-in-chief of the Positive Changes journal, the pioneers in the field of evaluation 20 years ago planted seedlings that are now bearing fruit: in 2021, Positive Changes Journal, a popular science Journal about impact investments and social impact assessment, appeared.

“We decided that each year we would celebrate those who most delighted us in terms of impact. It was difficult for the journal's editors to choose the 10 winners because there were so many people and organizations who inspired us, who developed innovative approaches to the evaluation, monitoring and planning of project activities. Our 10 laureates are people and organizations whose contribution to the development of the evaluation and impact industry is so great that without them things would be different,” said Natalia Gladkikh.

TO BE CLEARER AND CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE

The award in the Development of Social Projects Evaluation System category was won by the Center for Advanced Management Solutions (CAMS) for the introduction of assessment models into the system of public administration and the publication of methodological materials. In 2020, CAMS and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation published an expert note “Application of the Theory of Change for Strategic Audit and Strategic Planning in Russia.”^[17]

As the authors of the document note, there is a gap between the strategic goals of Russia's development, which are formulated by the President of the Russian Federation in his decrees and by the Government of the Russian Federation in its strategies, and the final results. The formal achievement of indicators does not always mean achievement of the originally planned social and economic effect. Moreover, different groups of beneficiaries often do not feel the effects of the goals set and achieved. One of the tools to bridge this gap is the theory of change, an approach in which each instrument of public policy must be focused on achieving a specific socio-economic change^[18].

One of the authors of the expert memorandum, Maksim Tsygankov, head of the Program and Policy evaluation project area at the Center for Advanced Management Solutions, shared with the editors of the Positive Changes what important things happened in 2022 from the perspective of evaluation development in our country.

“It is too early to talk about the practice of evidence-based approaches in the public sector, despite the fact that in 2022 it was possible to finalize a number of evaluation projects, such as microdata projects of the Federal Service for Labour and Employment. Thus, detailed administrative microdata on the state of the labour market became available to researchers. Research is expected to be based on this open data, the results of which will help improve organizational and technological processes of employment for citizens and recruitment for employers^[19]. In addition, I am glad to see a growing number of code and repositories around the world with the goal of evaluating and analyzing data. There are also cases from Russian companies, including MTS. MTS Big Data specialists have launched the first version of Ambrosia library for working with A/B-tests into Open Source^[20]. We see that it is business that is mostly interested in the proof of practice,” said Maksim Tsygankov.

On the positive side, according to the expert, we can also add that the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation in 2022 mediated the evidence-based policy agenda in the public sector, continuing to hold a competition of best practices and initiatives of the evidence-based approach to management decision-making.

Also, the SOL' Social Innovation Support Center was awarded in the Development of Social Projects Evaluation System category for the introduction of social reporting standards and the theory of change in the activities of social enterprises.

The standard helps various social projects and charities to form a compelling account of their social activities and to formalize the logic of the project's transformative impact. It includes all the data required for reporting, from organizational structure to finances. The standard also provides an opportunity to show the real results of its activities to investors, government authorities and other stakeholders^[21].

“We take a full-hearted approach to developing social innovation, and we believe if there is a problem, there is a solution. The social accountability standard tool allows social innovators to be clearer and closer to the people. I want to add that I spend a lot of time trying to understand the effects of social entrepreneurs, and how to help the state notice social entrepreneurs. The social impact assessment model, which is currently being developed by the Social Projects Support Fund, is still very difficult to use to compare one player with another, but it can be used for self-diagnosis – to see your own “growth zone.” The evaluation can be done by the project itself or by an independent player,” says Alexey Maslov, executive director of the SOL center and director of the Acceleration and Educational Programs Department of the Social Projects Support Fund of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

NO MATTER WHAT, WE CONTINUE TO EVOLVE IN THE FIELD OF EVALUATION

There are four winners in the Development of Practices for Implementation of Evaluation of Social Projects category. The first award went to the Timchenko Foundation for developing a standard of evidence-based practices for evaluating social impact in childhood and for shaping approaches to assessing the effectiveness of community development.

In 2018, with the strategic participation of the Timchenko Foundation, the Standard for Evidence-Based Social Practices appeared in Russia^[22]. It was developed by specialists from expert organizations, including Center for Evidence-Based Social Design of the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Association of Program and Policy Evaluators, Process Consulting company, Institute for the Study of Childhood, Family, and Education of the Russian Academy of Education.

10 organizations from Moscow, Penza, Cherepovets, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ivanovo provided descriptions of their social practices (model, technology, methodology, service, etc.) in an evidence-based format and were professionally verified. The format of the practice description implies its brief content, information on the achievement of social results, the quality of the available evidence on the achievement of positive changes in the lives of the beneficiaries, the regulated nature, the validity and good elaboration of the practice concept.

The standard is now a document that is evolving both methodologically and practically. In particular, the provisions of the standard are taken into account by the relevant ministries when developing methodological recommendations for organizations in the field of childhood, and the academic community makes extensive use of the standard's developments.

Another area of the Timchenko Foundation's work is the development of approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of local community development. In 2022, the foundation launched the Solidarity Communities project competition, which aims to solve small area problems by local communities, organizations, and initiative groups^[23].

Maria Morozova, General Director of the Timchenko Foundation, told the Positive Changes Journal how the foundation created, approved, and independently audited a system for monitoring and evaluating programs.

“We use the ‘theory of change,' assuming how change will occur in the short, medium and long term. As part of it, we developed our own system of indicators, which helps to see the results. Each program has a different one, but they are all governed by the same standards and principles. The monitoring and evaluation system includes all participants in the activities – the foundation, regional operators, and beneficiaries – and this helps all of us develop, make informed strategic and management decisions, and achieve significant social changes,” says Maria Morozova.

The system has a pyramid structure:

• the lower level is the direct results of the foundation's work (number of events, trained specialists, newly developed methodological materials, etc.);

• the middle is the results achieved by the supported projects (changes in the lives of the people for whom the foundation works – children saved in their families, jobs, co-financing for the development of the city, etc.);

• the third, uppermost level is the long-term social impact, the change at the societal level of the situation that underlies the program. This is usually determined through external independent research.

Another winner in this category was the Help Needed foundation for creating the Core IT service, which allows socially oriented non-profit organizations to create reports, plan goals, and measure social impact^[24].

Elizaveta Yaznevich, head of research at the Nuzhna Pomosh (Help Needed) foundation, told about other projects that the foundation developed in 2022. For example, the foundation's team of experts prepared a guide on creating and evaluating impact projects for the Sistema Charitable Foundation^[25].

“We studied the experience of Sistema JSFC Group companies – the experience is varied in many ways, and together we formulated the criteria for classifying a project supported by business as an impact investment. The goal of such investments is to achieve a positive, measurable social or environmental effect – simultaneously with the business result; all the expected results of the project are measurable and attainable; the effect achieved is long-term. In addition, based primarily on the literature dedicated to monitoring and evaluation of social projects, we have prescribed methodological guidelines for all stages of the impact investment project cycle. In its final form, the guide is designed for a wide target audience: from the shareholder making the decision to invest to the employee generating the project idea,” says Elizaveta Yaznevich.

The prize was also awarded to the Way Home Charitable Foundation for introducing systemic monitoring and evaluation tools into the practice of grantmaking organizations. 2022 saw several significant events for the foundation. Thus, as part of the Association of Program and Policy Evaluators conference, the Way Home foundation specialists shared their experience with colleagues from all over Russia in implementing and using monitoring and evaluation of socially significant projects, including the experience of those who are just beginning to use monitoring and evaluation. For the first time in the eight years of the conference, one of the sections was devoted entirely to the experience of the Way Home Charitable Foundation.

It is also worth noting the victory in the Corporate Philanthropy Leaders contest held by the Donors Forum. In the Best Program Promoting Sustainable Development through Grant Competitions (Best Grant Competition) category, 1st place was won by Severstal with the Way Home Charitable Foundation grant competition.

“This was only achieved through a two-year implementation of the results of an independent external evaluation of the foundation's grant competition conducted in 2019. It is important that despite all the events happening in the country and the world, we continue to develop the theme of evaluation, increasingly promoting the principles of evidence-based social design, emphasizing that positive changes in the lives of beneficiaries, communities and territories is the main purpose of NPO activities,” – says Alena Bogomolova, head of the Resource and Methodology Center of the Way Home charity foundation of the Severstal company, member of the Management Board of Association of Program and Policy Evaluators.

According to the expert, specialists from the foundation's Resource and Methodology Center traditionally work with all new grantees on logical models or chains of social results of projects at the beginning of their implementation. In 2022, the level of training for beginners has increased significantly and the time for this work took half as much as in previous years.

“For us, the question of how to implement a culture of evaluation in an organization is always relevant. This year we added blocks about monitoring and evaluation to the social design training seminars. Thus, when working on social design skills, even those entering the topic for the first time immediately perceive monitoring and evaluation as integral processes in their work. We tested this program in seven districts of the Vologda Region,” said Alena Bogomolova.

The fourth prize in this category was won by the Our Future Foundation for systematizing methods and programs in the field of evaluating the social and economic effectiveness of social enterprises and impact investors. In 2022, the foundation conducted a sample study of the social impact of social entrepreneurs' projects in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra^[26]. Three projects were selected for the study: X–Land computer club (Nizhnevartovsk), Seven Dwarfs kindergarten (Nefteyugansk) and Botanica Bar (Nizhnevartovsk). In 2016–2018, these companies participated in a pilot project to develop the social investment market in the region.

The method used by the experts is the Social Return on Investment, or SROI. The Our Future Foundation is adapting it to Russian conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of impact investments. The data from this study helps investors and project managers understand how effectively funds are spent to create a social result.

The foundation has been applying the social impact assessment approach for 15 years, making decisions to fund socially transformative projects in the form of interest-free loans^[27].

Natalia Zvereva, director of the Our Future Foundation, notes that in 2022 the discussion of approaches to assessing the social impact intensified. First of all, this is related to the discussion of the specifics of social enterprises of various legal forms. Competencies in determining the approach to social impact assessment at the level of professional standards in the field of social entrepreneurship are important.

“Our experience shows that there is no universal methodology for assessing social impact, because there are differences in approaches for enterprises of different legal forms, different types of activities. For example, it is difficult to evaluate sports and social service projects using the same approach. As part of the Aksel.Sotszakaz accelerator, we saw confirmation of this thesis. The emphasis on industry specifics is one of the important trends in the development of this topic,” says Natalia Zvereva.

Another trend is the attempt to simplify the SROI method, to separate stakeholder approaches to determining the social impact. “Assessment of the social impact for the purpose of receiving state support and for the purpose of attracting investment may have different criteria. For example, in the first case, the principle of “social impact assessment in exchange for a measure of support” can be used. The topic of social impact assessment approaches is also relevant due to the fact that the quality of people's lives remains the number one priority in any initiative,” the expert explains.

GLOBAL VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF EVALUATION AND SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY OF PRACTITIONERS

Alexey Kuzmin, CEO of Process Consulting, received an award in the Personal Contribution to the Development of Social Projects and Programs Evaluation category for his development of the project and program evaluation market, active participation in evaluation method development programs, and educational activities on his professional blog.

Alexey Kuzmin has worked as an organizational development and program evaluation consultant since 1987. Member of the American Evaluation Association since 1999, member of the Russian Association of Program and Policy Evaluators. He has supervised the evaluation of more than 100 programs and projects in 20 countries.

What important things happened in the field of evaluation in Russia and the world in 2022? According to award winner Alexey Kuzmin, one of the notable events was the opening of the International Evaluation Academy^[28].

“This is a global movement of volunteers seeking to increase the impact of evaluation on meaningful decision-making, the professionalization of evaluation, and its transformative impact. The academy is focused on innovation in the way evaluation is designed and used to solve complex economic, social, and environmental sustainability problems. The academy's board and advisory council includes several dozen specialists from all continents. It is planned to support fellows who will conduct development in priority areas for the academy.

I think that the academy has every chance to play an important role in the development of evaluation in the world,” believes Alexey Kuzmin.

If we talk about significant events in our country, the expert notes the PROOTSENKA club, whose online meetings are held monthly under the motto “Interesting Conversation in Good Company^[29].”

“The club's mission is to support a community of practitioners dedicated to integrating evaluation into the work of socially oriented organizations. Nothing is required to participate in the meetings except the desire. Education, level of training in evaluation, and practical experience are not important. The organizers of the club strive to choose topics that are important from a practical point of view, to give participants new information, to use a variety of formats of work, to maintain an informal positive atmosphere,” explains Alexey Kuzmin.

THE “REVOLUTION” IN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

Elena Avramenko was awarded in the Development of Methodology of Social Projects Evaluation category for the development and elaboration of methods for economic assessment of social impact and a series of publications in the Positive Changes Journal.

Elena Avramenko is one of the authors of the methodological recommendations “Development of a model for assessing the socio-economic Impact of NPO projects^[30].” The guide describes possible strategies for conducting socio-economic analysis of the impact of NPO projects at the level of describing the steps for “manual” calculations (on savings of state funds, characteristics of the quality of life of beneficiaries, etc.).

Elena Avramenko has been a regular contributor to the Positive Changes Journal since its first issue in December 2021^[31].

What set the vector for the development of the impact assessment methodology for all of 2022? Such an event, according to the winner of the prize, was the presentation of the Nobel Prize to three scientists: Guido Imbens, David Card, and Joshua Angrist, “for their methodological contributions to cause and effect analysis.” The methodology proposed by the scientists makes it possible to find variations in the data of a “natural” experiment, which can give reliable results in assessing the influence of factors on social and economic characteristics.

Also, the Global impact Investing Network (GIIN) has seen great progress throughout 2022 in the development of impact assessment tools and methodology, according to the expert.

“According to GIIN, the impact investments market was $1.164 trillion in 2022. In the fall of 2022, GIIN launched Impact Lab, a first-of-its-kind industry initiative that will conduct groundbreaking research and development on behalf of the entire market to better understand impact effectiveness and the relationship between impact, risk and financial return. Impact Lab is designed for collaboration between leading investors and stakeholders to take the market to a new level of sophistication, while creating and accumulating an impact information base for informed decision making,” says Elena Avramenko.

Working with partner organizations' field trials, the lab will introduce the science, methods, and calculations needed to create impact performance analysis tools that will form the basis for more reliable impact analysis. The founding partners of Impact Lab were: GIIN, Temasek investment company, Visa Foundation, EQT foundation as investor and incubator.

IF WE HAD NOT DONE THE EVALUATION, WE WOULD NOT HAVE GIVEN NEW LIFE TO THE PROJECT

Moscow Toy factory was recognized the Best Case of Introduction of Evaluation in the Activities of a Social Enterprise. The mechanics of the project is learning how to create cotton toys. The target audience of the project is women over 50, unemployed, mothers of children with disabilities, mothers of large families. A description of the case can be found on the pages of the Positive Changes Journal^[32].

Svetlana Modnova, founder and head of the Moscow Toy factory, highlighted the main points of 2022 and noted what the organization has achieved thanks to the evaluation.

“In 2022 we produced about 10,600 toys, won two grants from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives to promote our projects in the regions, and launched the cotton toy museum, the only specialized museum in Russia, which is located on the territory of our factory. As for the evaluation, it brought to light things we had not been paying attention to before. We taught the craft of cotton toys to about 3.5 thousand women in Russia. Those who live near Moscow were attracted to work at our factory to fulfill corporate orders. The evaluation showed that women who live in remote regions are very willing to get involved in our work. We have developed a technology of the “artel” type for the production of cotton toys, which was popular in the 30's and 40's of the 20th century. Today 30 regions of Russia work with us,” says Svetlana Modnova.

The evaluation also found that one-third of the women who were trained in the project wanted to teach the craft and start their own business. Some in the form of a family workshop, some in the form of a club in a community center or in a small community.

“If we had not done the evaluation, we would not have seen this need. The evaluation pushed us to give new life to the project – we developed a methodological manual, where to start, how to teach, what materials to buy, how much money is needed to start this activity,” added Svetlana Modnova.

EVALUATION IS A CONVERSATION IN THE LANGUAGE OF NUMBERS AND VERIFIABLE FACTS

Yakov Samokhvalov, General Director of the Yugra Center for Civic and Social Initiatives Foundation, was awarded in the Best Program of Social Impact Assessment at the Regional Level category.

The prize was awarded for the development of a systemic solution to aggregate information about the activities of socially oriented non-profit organizations, volunteer associations and civic activists from various open sources, the formation of an open database on its basis and the creation of a mechanism for a single operator of grants from the Governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra for socially oriented non-profit organizations and individuals implementing socially significant projects.

The Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra is a region known for its achievements in the development of civil society. At the end of 2020 the Yugra Center for Civic and Social Initiatives launched a new solution, which aggregates information from volunteer associations and socially oriented non-profit organizations – the unified personal account of the activist of Yugra (abbreviated as UPAA or ELKA in Russian). This is an electronic service, by registering in which an NPO can tell about itself and participate in the ranking of regional organizations. The rating is calculated automatically based on data collected by the system from public sources and data provided by users themselves, but verified by the foundation's staff. Activists can thus position themselves favorably in the eyes of their colleagues, the authorities, and journalists.

Director of the Yugra Center for Civic and Social Initiatives Foundation commented on how UPAA works.

“The unified personal account is a system that motivates people to talk about and reflect on what they do. We aggregate all available information from open sources, collect and segment it according to certain areas and derive a certain rating value. In the competitions that we run as the operator of the governor's grants, we make sure that some things that are checked by the competition experts cannot be rated lower than on the platform, for example, the value of the experience of the organization, the team. And this motivates people: we noticed that they add information about themselves, some data is verified. All of this is of value to the public sector, the journalistic community, and active residents of the region. The system is largely self-developing. We set the rules, and the system is filled with data,” says Yakov Samokhvalov.

He also notes that in 2022, interest in evaluation is growing beyond the expert community itself: such approaches are becoming in demand in the federal and regional authorities, and in business. “2022 was a watershed year – we are approaching the topic of the first state-accepted evaluation. We need to understand how public investments – subsidies, budget funds, grants for NPOs – are converted and what value they represent to society, beyond stories like “we helped…” This is a conversation in a language of figures, verifiable facts, which the sector lacked. And the second thing is that the evaluation is needed first and foremost by the organizations themselves. Many organizations seek “long” cooperation with donor organizations, large and medium-sized businesses, and government agencies. But without a fair internal evaluation of its activities, an organization can have neither a strategy nor long-term plans. If there are no long-term plans, it is difficult to attract partners and develop,” says the expert.

Theory of change, open data, evidence-based approach, reporting standard, development of a guide for creating and evaluating impact projects, discussion of approaches to social impact assessment, development of communities of practitioners, great progress in the development of tools and methodology for impact assessment, growth of interest in evaluation as a professional activity – these are the trends the award winners see in 2022.

The award by Positive Changes Journal, a popular science journal about impact investments and social impact assessment, is an annual award. At the end of 2023, we will know the names of new laureates – people and organizations who are making a positive contribution to the development of the impact theme.

17. Kim, A. I., Kopytok, V. K., Filippova, Y. A. & Tsygankov, M. V. (2020). Application of the Theory of Change to Strategic Audit and Strategic Planning in Russia. Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, Center for Advanced Management Solutions. Retrieved from: https://cpur.ru/teoriya_izmenenij. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

18. Weiss, C. H. (1995). Nothing as practical as good theory: Exploring theory-based evaluation for comprehensive community initiatives for children and families. New approaches to evaluating community initiatives: Concepts, methods, and contexts, 1, 65–92.

19. Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. (2021). A collection of best practices and initiatives in the evidence-based approach to management decision-making. According to the results of the 1st Competition of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation. Moscow. Retrieved from: https://ach.gov.ru/upload/iblock/769/a8sk3xrqzdtomz4chspi3r8xkav4wp0f.pdf. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

20. Bairamkulov, A. & Khakimov, A. (2022). Ambrosia is an Open Source library for working with A/B tests. Retrieved from: https://habr.com/ru/company/ru_mts/blog/700992/. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

21. SOL SISC. (2014). Social reporting standard. How to prepare reporting based on your performance. Retrieved from: https://impact.ngo.ru/library/view/31. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

22. Standard of evidence-based social practices in childhood. (2018). Moscow. Retrieved from: https://timchenkofoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/standart_dokazatelnosti_socialnyh_prakti_v_sfere_detstva.pdf. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

23. Rudina-Ladyzhets, E. (2022). Communities as a driver of territorial development. The Solidarity Communities project experience. Positive Changes. 48–59. https://doi. org/10.55140/2782–5817–2022–2-S2–48–59.

24. Core. A project by the Nuzhna Pomosh (Help Needed) foundation. (2022). Retrieved from: https://core.nuzhnapomosh.ru/. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

25. Sistema Charitable Foundation. (2022). A guide for creating and evaluating impact projects. Retrieved from: https://bf.sistema.ru/upload/iblock/abe/tmvvep8snmgywrkonvn6b24s9rub9i3c/Gai_d-impakt-proekty_final.pdf. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

26. Our Future Foundation. (2022). The Our Future Foundation conducted a study of the effect of impact investments in Yugra. Retrieved from: https://www.nb-fund.ru/press-center/news/fond-nashe-budushchee-provel-issledovanie-effekta-impakt-investitsiy-v-yugre-/. (accessed: 09.12.2022).

27. Gladkikh, N. & Vyatkina, Y. (2022). Social Impact is Always the Cornestone of Social Entrepreneurship. Interview with Natalia Zvereva. Positive Changes, 2(3), 6–14.

28. International Evaluation Academy. (2022). Retrieved from: https://ieac.global/. (accessed 10.12.2022).

29. #PROOCENKU Alliance. (2022). Retrieved from: http://www.proocenku.club/. (accessed: 10.12.2022).

30. Avramenko, E., Gladkikh, N., Vanchikova, S. & Vainer, V. (2021). Development of a model for assessing the socio-economic Impact of NPO projects. Methodological guidelines. Moscow: Gladway Foundation of Development of Media Projects and Social Programs. Retrieved from: https://impact.ngo.ru/library/view/53. (accessed: 10.12.2022).

31. Avramenko, E. (2022). The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics: a new step in accessing the social impact. Positive Changes, 1(1), 58–67.

32. Zakharova, E., Gorbunov, S. & Modnova, S. (2022). Case of the Issue: Social and Economic Impact Research of the Russian Toy Manufacture Project. Positive Changes, 1(1), 30–43.