With claims of greenwashing and social washing on the rise, it’s clear that unverified claims of Social Value and impact are no longer enough to command confidence. Stakeholders from the public to the investment community want more.
One solution is third-party validation: an impartial review of your impact reporting to confirm accuracy and credibility.
This is the domain of Ridhima Madaan, our Data Quality Manager. Leading a team dedicated to ensuring our customers’ Social Value data meets the rigorous standards of the Social Value TOM System™, she plays a key role in building trust and accountability in Social Value reporting.
We spoke to Ridhima about why data validation matters, and how the updated TOM System will strengthen the foundations of Social Value reporting.
Can you share a bit about your career journey? What initially drew you to the field of Social Value?
I’ve spent eight years working on various government schemes and projects, focused primarily on impact assessments of policies and initiatives. These roles have involved:
- Managing teams dedicated to collecting primary data
- Conducting rigorous quality checks to ensure data quality
- Analysing data to generate insights and reports for stakeholders
I’ve always been passionate about using data to create a meaningful impact on the community. My position as Data Quality Manager at Social Value Portal gives me a platform to contribute to the Social Value movement by helping organisations avoid making misleading claims and report more accurately.
💡 Explore: The rise of Social Value jobs
Why is data quality so important to Social Value reporting? What are the risks of neglecting it?
High quality data is the backbone of credible Social Value measurement and reporting – it protects your reputation, builds stakeholder trust, and supports informed decision-making.
Equally, the risks of neglecting data quality are significant. Mis-claiming Social Value can lead to greenwashing, social-washing, and even misusing public funds when public sector budgets are involved.
But the flipside is that good Social Value data empowers organisations to draw out meaningful insights and enhance their positive impact so they can achieve their strategic vision.
How does the Social Value TOM System™ make Social Value reporting credible and actionable?
The TOM System does more than help users measure their Social Value. It also provides detailed, easy-to-follow guidance for standardised reporting. That means users can:
- Fully understand what they are measuring
- Make sure their activities go above and beyond business-as-usual
- Confidently take accountability for the claimed outcomes
The Social Value TOM System™: Themes, Outcomes and Measures
The TOM System also uses financial proxies to translate high level figures – say, 400 weeks of volunteering – into a clear monetary metric that stakeholders can understand: the ‘Social Value £’.
Finally, the TOM System compliments and harmonises with other frameworks like the Social Value Model, the UNSDGs, and CRSD, while categorising initiatives under four key themes: Work, Economy, Community, and Planet. This alignment helps users tie their Social Value activities back to strategic priorities and ESG and corporate responsibility commitments.
Can you walk us through the process of validating Social Value data?
Our validation process ensures that Social Value delivery data aligns with the TOM System’s principles through a structured, step-by-step approach:
- Verify that the activity meets the relevant measure requirements and uses the right measurement unit – for instance, full-time employees (FTE)
- Assess whether there is sufficient evidence to substantiate the reported values
- Check for any calculation errors, duplicate values, or omissions based on the evidence provided
If the reported data passes these checks and is free from any material issues, we approve it for validation. For any shortfalls, we issue clarification queries with the reporting organisation to help them improve the quality of the reported data, which we then re-review.
Adrian Williams of London Borough of Waltham Forest explains the value of third-party validation
What are some of the common data quality issues you encounter?
Duplicate reporting is a common issue – for instance, when the same activity is reported across different time periods, or against different measures and projects. Another common challenge is fragmented evidence, where a lack of cohesive documentation makes it challenging to draw meaningful conclusions or verify the reported numbers.
This isn’t just a problem for our team; it poses a big risk to the reporting organisations too. When businesses or government organisations make claims about their positive impact, they need to be able to point to robust data evidencing those claims.
That’s why the validation process is so important. It maintains not just the robustness of their reporting, but the credibility of the Social Value movement more broadly.
What excites you most about the updated TOM System?
The updated TOM System is more robust, user-friendly, and transparent. Its new guidance includes a clear evidence requirement checklist, which will streamline the data collection process and help users organise their data for third-party audits.
All this will serve to strengthen the Social Value movement, and make reporting more credible and meaningful!
If you could share one piece of advice with organisations looking to adopt the TOM System, what would it be?
If you’re new to this field, take the time to understand the TOM System and its updated guidance. Use them to shape your Social Value data collection processes from the start.
By aligning to the best practice standards laid out in the TOM System, you’ll save time, establish a strong reporting framework. What you can measure you can manage, and what you can manage you can improve.
Learn more about the Social Value TOM System™
Social Value leaders from Islington Council, Wates and Mars Wrigley explain why they use the Social Value TOM System™
Think the TOM System could be right for your organisation? Learn more about it with one of our experts!
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