22nd February 2016
RSM have been providing audit, tax and consulting services to middle market leads since 1885, and are one of the UK’s leading charity auditors. For many years now they have helped charities and social enterprises alike to cope with funding changes. They can also assist with identifying and measuring social impact, managing tax risks, carrying out governance reviews, managing financial difficulties, finding effective ways to work collaboratively with other organisations and establishing new social enterprises.
It is important for social enterprises and charities to assess their own performance and defend their funding, and this is done through understanding their social return on investment. This is measured through social impact, and is used to look into the effect that an organisation’s work has on their beneficiary groups or wider society.
My guest on this episode is Keith Ward, Head of Social Impact Advisory at RSM and he has been involved in this role for a number of years. His key focus is social housing, and he has worked with a number of housing associations to help measure their social impact.
Keith has a wealth of knowledge on social impact measurement and social enterprise generally, and as you will hear in this interview he is extremely passionate about this sector.
I conducted this interview at an E3M event at The Experience in Hillington near Glasgow – one of the social enterprises that Kibble operates. RSM have been involved in E3M since the beginning and has helped many social enterprises over the years through the knowledge sharing and networking that E3M offers its members.
Keith’s expertise in the financial area shines through on this interview. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed recording it.