Housing & Homelessness
Stable housing interventions including permanent placement, shelter provision, and eviction prevention.
Permanent Housing Placement$9.8K
Eviction Prevention$6.2K
+1 more outcomes
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Free SROI Calculator
for nonprofits
Prove your nonprofit’s social value to funders, boards, and stakeholders. Calculate your Social Return on Investment in minutes — pre-loaded with verified proxy values from WSIPP, HACT, Robin Hood Foundation, and more.
✓ Grant Applications✓ Board Reports✓ Funder Proposals✓ Annual Impact Reports
What is SROI?
Social Return on Investment (SROI) is a framework that translates your nonprofit’s outcomes into dollar terms — giving funders, boards, and stakeholders a clear picture of the value you create per dollar invested.
A ratio of 3:1 means every $1 your organization spends generates $3 in measurable social value. This calculator walks you through the SROI methodology developed by Social Value UK and refined by institutions like WSIPP.
Why nonprofits use SROI
- ✓Prove impact to funders with quantified data
- ✓Guide strategic decisions by comparing program efficiency
- ✓Communicate with boards in financial language they understand
- ✓Benchmark performance and demonstrate improvement over time
The SROI formula — step by step
01
Identify outcomes
What changes because of your program? Job placements, reduced homelessness, improved mental health outcomes.
02
Assign proxy values
What is each outcome worth in dollars? This calculator pre-loads verified values so you don't have to research them.
03
Apply discount factors
Adjust for deadweight (would've happened anyway), attribution (other contributors), and displacement (negative effects).
04
Calculate the ratio
Total Social Value ÷ Investment = your SROI ratio.
01
Your investment
02
Select outcomes
Your SROI
Add outcomes to calculate your SROI
Methodology & formula
The SROI formula
Impact = (Quantity × Proxy Value) × (1 − Deadweight − Attribution − Displacement)
SROI Ratio = Total Social Value ÷ Investment
Deadweight
Deadweight is the portion of an outcome that would have happened anyway without your intervention. For example, if 20% of job placements would have found work independently, set deadweight to 20%.
Attribution
Attribution accounts for contributions from other organizations. If a partner org contributed to 30% of an outcome, set attribution to 30% so you only claim your share.
Displacement
Displacement measures negative side-effects elsewhere. For example, if placing someone in housing displaces another person on the waiting list, that is displacement.
Net present value
In multi-year SROI analyses, future benefits are discounted to present value using a 3.5% social discount rate (recommended by HM Treasury Green Book). This calculator uses a single-period estimate.
Sources
- →Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) — benefit-cost analysis of evidence-based programs
- →HACT Social Value Bank — UK-based wellbeing valuation methodology (adapted)
- →Robin Hood Foundation — poverty-fighting impact measurement
- →Social Value UK — SROI standards and seven principles
- →U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CDC, HUD, EPA — sector-specific cost and value data
Legal disclaimer
This SROI Calculator is provided for educational and planning purposes only. Results are estimates based on generalized proxy values from third-party research sources and do not constitute audited financial statements, regulatory filings, or certified impact assessments. Proxy values are drawn from publicly available research (WSIPP, HACT, Robin Hood Foundation, BLS, CDC, HUD, EPA) and may not reflect local conditions, program design, or population-specific factors. Actual social returns will vary. CauseHouse does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of these estimates. Users should not rely on calculator outputs for regulatory compliance, grant audits, or legally binding representations to funders without engaging qualified independent evaluators. By using this tool, you acknowledge that results are illustrative projections intended to support internal planning and narrative development only.
Proxy database
Pre-loaded values from verified research
Browse the outcomes and proxy values available in this calculator — all drawn from peer-reviewed or government-published sources.
Employment & Economic Mobility
Job training, placement, and wage advancement programs for low-income or marginalized workers.
Competitive Job Placement$42.0KWorkforce Training Completion$8.7K+1 more outcomes
Education & Youth Development
Programs supporting academic achievement, credential attainment, and youth opportunity.
High School Diploma / GED$258.0KEarly Childhood Education$18.0K+1 more outcomes
Criminal Justice & Reentry
Programs reducing recidivism, supporting reentry, and diverting individuals from incarceration.
Recidivism Reduction$29.0KDiversion from Incarceration$35.0K+1 more outcomes
Health & Mental Health
Physical health, mental health, and substance use programs that improve wellbeing and reduce system costs.
Mental Health Treatment$4.2KSubstance Use Treatment$16.1K+1 more outcomes
Food Security
Programs addressing hunger, SNAP enrollment, and access to nutritious food.
SNAP Benefits Enrollment$2.4KEmergency Food Provision$1.73+1 more outcomes
Arts, Culture & Community
Arts programming, cultural access, and community-building initiatives that improve wellbeing.
Youth Arts Programming$3.2KCultural Access & Participation$780.00Environment & Climate
Conservation, carbon reduction, and environmental justice programs.
Carbon Emission Reduction$51.00Urban Green Space Creation$4.2KSafety & Violence Prevention
Programs that reduce community violence, domestic violence, and interpersonal harm.
Community Violence Prevention$6.8KDomestic Violence Services$11.4KCivic Engagement & Democracy
Voter registration, civic education, and community organizing programs.
Voter Registration$420.00Civic Education Program$1.8K
FAQ
Everything you need to know about SROI.
Common questions about the methodology, proxy values, and how to use your results — so you can calculate with confidence.
What is SROI (Social Return on Investment)?
SROI is a framework for measuring and accounting for the social, environmental, and economic value created by an organization. It produces a ratio showing how much social value is created per dollar invested — for example, 3.5:1 means every $1 invested generates $3.50 in social value. It was developed by Social Value UK and is widely used by government agencies, foundations, and impact-focused nonprofits.
What are proxy values and where do they come from?
Proxy values are monetary estimates for non-monetary outcomes — like the lifetime earnings premium from a high school diploma, or the cost savings from preventing a night of homelessness. This calculator uses values from WSIPP (Washington State Institute for Public Policy), the HACT Social Value Bank, Robin Hood Foundation, Bureau of Labor Statistics, CDC cost-of-illness data, HUD fair market rents, and EPA social cost of carbon. All sources are cited within the calculator.
What are deadweight, attribution, and displacement?
These are 'discount factors' that ensure you don't overclaim impact. Deadweight is the portion of an outcome that would have happened anyway without your program. Attribution accounts for the contribution of other organizations to the same outcome. Displacement captures negative side-effects your intervention causes elsewhere. The calculator pre-fills suggested values based on research norms, but you can adjust them to match your program reality.
How accurate is this free SROI calculator?
This calculator provides directionally accurate estimates based on standardized methodologies and verified proxy values. It is designed for grant narratives, board reports, and internal planning. Actual social returns vary based on program design, implementation quality, local context, and population-specific factors. For audited SROI reports or regulatory compliance, engage qualified independent evaluators who can conduct full stakeholder analysis.
What is a good SROI ratio for a nonprofit?
There is no universal benchmark, but many well-designed social programs achieve ratios between 1.5:1 and 6:1 once appropriate discount factors are applied. Ratios above 3:1 are generally considered strong and highly competitive for grant applications. Ratios below 1:1 indicate the program costs more than the social value it creates — a signal to review assumptions or program design.
Can I use these results for grant applications?
Yes — with appropriate framing. Reference the estimates as illustrative SROI projections based on standardized proxy values, and note the methodology and its limitations. Many grant applications welcome this kind of directional evidence. For formal evaluations, regulatory filings, or audited SROI reports, engage professional evaluators who can validate assumptions, conduct stakeholder surveys, and produce certified outputs.
How do I choose which outcomes to include?
Include the outcomes your program directly and intentionally causes. Be conservative — overclaiming too many outcomes weakens credibility with sophisticated funders. Focus on the 2–4 outcomes where you have the clearest evidence of causation and the most robust data on quantity. A tight, well-justified SROI calculation is more compelling than a broad one with weak assumptions.
Should I use a low or high proxy value when multiple options exist?
Use the proxy value that best matches your program's context and population. If you serve a U.S. audience, WSIPP values are typically most defensible. If you are reporting to UK-based funders, HACT values may be preferred. When in doubt, use the conservative (lower) value and note your reasoning — funders respect intellectual honesty more than inflated numbers.
Is my data saved or shared?
No. All calculations run entirely in your browser. CauseHouse does not store, log, or transmit your input data. No account is required and there is no data collection beyond standard anonymized website analytics. You can use this tool freely without creating an account or providing any personal information.
What comes after this calculator?
This tool gives you a solid starting point for communicating social value. For teams ready to go deeper, CauseHouse offers custom impact measurement engagements: stakeholder interviews, theory of change development, evidence review, and full SROI reports that withstand funder scrutiny. Book a consultation to discuss what level of evaluation makes sense for your goals.
Need deeper impact measurement?
This calculator gets you started. We can take you further.
Custom evaluations, stakeholder analysis, and verified SROI reports that stand up to funder scrutiny — built by CauseHouse.