How do you quantify the value of a thriving community, improved mental health, or a cleaner environment?
The first metric most organisations look at is quantity, or ‘units’: weeks of volunteering, the number of local hires, or miles driven with zero-emission vehicles. This is a strong start – but what if you want to measure the broader value these activities create for society?
For example...
- If you’re evaluating Social Value bids for a government contract, how do you compare the impact of hiring 10 local people, with five apprenticeships for long-term unemployed individuals?
- If you’re a business owner, how can you explain the holistic value of your initiatives to investors and other stakeholders?
A financial proxy – or ‘Social Value £’ – provides the solution.
Here we’ll explain exactly how, and why leading brands and government authorities rely on financial proxies – or the ‘Social Value £’ - to measure and communicate positive impact.
Measuring Social Value with the Social Value £
Assigning a financial value to Social Value initiatives allows you to convey scale, facilitate comparison, and give Social Value its rightful place in strategic decision-making.
This is the basis of the Social Value TOM System™ (Themes, Outcomes, and Measures), used by organisations like Mars, the NHS, the Government Property Agency, and many others. 
It uses financial proxies to assign monetary values to actions, creating a standardised metric – the Social Value £. These proxies are built on the leading government data sources (such as the Office of National Statistics, HM Treasury's Green Book, and the Unit Cost Database) and maintained by a team of dedicated experts.
💡 Meet the experts behind the TOM System™
Let's take a look at five key benefits of using the Social Value £ to measure Social Value.
Five benefits of the Social Value £
1. Communicate your impact effectively
Many aspects of Social Value – such as improved wellbeing, community cohesion, or environmental protection – are hard to measure.
The Social Value £ transforms these intangible benefits into tangible values that can be easily communicated and understood. This is a powerful tool whether you’re bidding for work, or evaluating your supply chain, or promoting the great work you’re doing to stakeholders.
“A financial proxy value is really helpful to communicate in bids, at forecasting stage and to really look at the impact of what we're doing.”
Su Pickerill, Head of Social Value, Wates Group
💡Watch: How Wates Group is driving positive change for communities
Localised examples of the rigorously calculated proxy values underpinning the TOM System
2. Compare impacts with a common language
By creating a unified metric, financial proxies facilitate comparison of different types of outcomes on a common scale. This is especially helpful when choosing which projects to prioritise or evaluating bids for contracts.
- Example: A £100,000 public works contract has two bidders, who score equally on quality and cost – meaning their Social Value commitments will seal the deal.
- One bidder commits to creating apprenticeships; the other commits to exclusively procuring from local suppliers. Which is offering greater additional value?
- Using a financial proxy, the buyer can see that the first offers £10,000 of Social Value (a 10% ‘Social Value-add’) while the second offers £20,000 of Social Value (a 20% ‘Social Value-add’).
💡 Explore: Our Social Value Toolkits for Buyers and for Bidders
3. Benchmark and uncover best practices
By establishing a common language for impact, the Social Value £ lets organisations benchmark their performance in a variety of different contexts. For instance, the 2024 Social Value Data Insights Report breaks down Social Value performance by industry, organisation size, region, and relative to contract values.
This empowers businesses to understand their own impact relative to their peers – but it also empowers entire industries to assess their progress, compare trends, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
Just look at construction, which according to the latest SCAPE report has increased its Social Value return on investment from 17% to 27% between 2020 and 2023!
4. Gain buy-in and support decision-making
Using the Social Value £, organisations can assess the impact of their initiatives and allocate resources accordingly. This helps them:
- Justify funding for high-impact initiatives
- Identify areas where their efforts yield the most value
For instance, the TOM System’s proxies gave Harwich Haven Authority the evidence-base to expand some of its key initiatives:
“The TOM System ... played a crucial role in building a business case for expanding our apprenticeship program and project work, which is further contributing to local employment and skills development.”
Linzi Jobber, Sustainability Manager, Harwich Haven Authority
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It’s also important to remember that many key decision-makers are accustomed to financial metrics – and the Social Value £ puts impact into in a format they already trust and use.
For instance:
- CFOs: By measuring impact in financial terms, the Social Value £ supports a clear cost-benefit analysis.
By having a Social Value proxy, a Social Value pound (SV£), we can enter into commercial conversations and give Social Value a really important place. Previously, it was always the nice to have, and now it's actually part of the conversations with business leaders and business decision makers.”
Lulu Hobbs, Social Impact Manager, Serco
💡Watch: Serco discuss their approach to Social Value
5. Drive transparency and accountability
More than ever before, the public wants to see evidence that businesses are holding themselves accountable and doing good for society.
By converting outcomes into financial terms, organisations can convey clear and measurable evidence of their contributions.
- Example: Using financial proxies, real estate developer Landsec was able to demonstrate that over 3.5 years of construction, 10 years of estate management, and 10 years of occupation, its 55 Old Broad Street development could deliver as much as £598 million in Social Value – 277% of construction costs.
💡 Read: Spotlight on 55 Old Broad Street’s Social Value strategy
Explore the new Social Value TOM System™
The next evolution in Social Value measurement is here!
After two years of user feedback and innovation, the refreshed TOM System™ offers updated Themes, evidence guidelines, and an expanded scope to help you create and measure meaningful impact.
- Learn more about the updated TOM System!
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