Social accounting 2.0 - ideas anyone?

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the big issue for social enterprise over the next few years will be about proving that we do what we say we do.  The current obsession with profits and ownership models will become less important as a skint, fractured society, crying out for change, will demand that we do more - and prove that we've done it.

The problem, in my humble opinion, with much social accounting is that it's not scaleable.  My experience of it (getting trained in it, sitting on an Audit Panel, reading social accounts) is that it's a bit tedious and very time-consuming.  I know it should be a powerful tool for business improvement, but often it seems to be another hoop-jumping exercise to further the myth of the magnificent social enterprise.  I think this is particularly an issue for small organisations, for whom the reporting procedures can be particularly onerous.  

I have issues with the cost of the audit process, and the reliance on a small pool of paid auditors.   That's not to say that the people who currently do social accounting don't do a good job - I just wonder whether something better could be done - and as a result get more organisations to do it.  

This is how I came to the social accounting 2.0 idea.  I'm involved in a Local Authority funded project which is soon to award a contract for around £250k.  We want a lot of social bangs for our buck, and we want to come up with some kind of  process for measuring outcomes which can replace the usual contract management procedures which focus on outputs.

We want to keep it quite simple, and, crucially, do-able, amidst all the other stuff that has to be done. We've got a few ideas - some of which may turn out to be daft - using a wiki to record achievements as they happen, perhaps a blog to tell the story, flickr to share the images, and twitter to record those magic moments right at the moment they happen.  

Then, we're interested in the wisdom of crowds and peer review, in place of an audit panel.  Again, using web 2.0 technology, we'd aim be open with our information, and then leave it up to you to decide whether you think we've done a good job.  We think that may create a sense of engagement with the business at a much deeper level than a pdf of an audit report.

I'm clear on one thing - I'm not an expert in either social accounting or web 2.0.  But I think I can see an opportunity to do something different.  If you've got ideas - or if you'd perhaps like to collaborate with us on this - please get in touch by leaving a comment - or by emailing me.  

Comments

[Claire Theyers]

I think its a really good idea. And it wouldn't have to be that complicated. I think its something that could lend itself well to self-auditing via simple checklists/levels of accountability. What kind of outcomes are you thinking about? What does social responsibility encompass - does it extend to things like carbon footprint, recycling etc too? Keep me posted.

[Jamie Pullman]

Hi Rob
Just in case you don't already know the phenomenal folks at Acumen Fund (in the States), I think their blog post "Cost Effective Cost Effectiveness" might be particularly helpful: http://blog.acumenfund.org/
All the best
J

[David Wilcox]

Rob - great idea. There are plenty of tools around, the challenge as usual is going to be in agreeing the procedures, making sure those without web access get a look in, and overcoming cynicism about whether it will make a difference. How about a co-design exercise where you bring together a mix of "experts' social media and social accounting, and people you want to involve. I've tried that fairly successfully with participation processes. They way you end up with a social accounting 2.0 kit and process people feel they can trust.
http://usefulgames.co.uk/engagementgame