‘Be responsive’ in action: Practical application of Principle 8
At SVI, we believe that decisions should be guided by more than financial value alone. By embedding the Principles of Social Value, organisations can understand the real changes experienced by stakeholders and use that information to improve wellbeing, reduce inequality, and make better decisions.
To bring to life the most recent Principle 8: Be responsive, we’re sharing a practical example from Clinic+O, a healthcare provider in Guinea that used its first Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis to improve the design and delivery of its services.
Drawing from a report authored by Khadija Boukhobza, a Social Value Level 3: Advanced Practitioner and member of the SVI Standards Committee, we've developed a case study to demonstrate how Clinic+O applied the findings of its analysis to guide strategic, tactical and operational decisions. We also speak with Khadija about her methods, motivations, and the impact her work has already had, offering an additional perspective what it means to be truly responsive.
The Principles of Social Value
The Principles of Social Value offer an approach to making decisions that reflect a broader definition of value, going beyond the types of value commonly represented in financial transactions. They are:
Involve stakeholders
Understand what changes
Value the things that matter
Only include what is material
Do not overclaim
Be transparent
Verify the result
Be responsive
Grounded in good practice in accounting, evaluation and reporting, the Principles of Social Value are built on one central idea: meaningful social value can only be achieved when the people affected by decisions are part of the conversation.
Why is Principle 8: Be responsive so important?
While each principle matters, Principle 8 is the one that turns information into action. It requires organisations to use the data they collect through stakeholder engagement to make decisions that improve outcomes.
Without responsiveness, measurement risks becoming a tick-box exercise. But, when applied well, Principle 8 provides a practical framework for continuous learning and improvement. It supports organisations to make three types of decisions:
Strategic decisions – defining what the organisation aims to achieve and why. This will involve setting impact goals based on stakeholder engagement to establish which impacts are important to them.
Tactical decisions - deciding which activities to run (or not run) to best achieve those impact goals.
Operational decisions - refining how products or services are delivered to optimise wellbeing outcomes to increase positive effects and reduce unintended negatives.
The combination of quality data and responsive decision-making allows organisations to move from impact measurement to impact management, ensuring that their actions enhance value for stakeholders.
Principle 8 in practice – the case of Clinic+O
“I was always interested how I should ensure the programmes that we are delivering create a real change for the for the stakeholders. I have a background in finance and social economy, and I always wanted to move beyond financial metrics, to integrate the perspective of the stakeholders into the decision making.” - Khadija Boukhobza - Report Author & Level 3 Advanced Practitioner
Founded in 2020, Clinic+O’s mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of low-income and rural communities by combining telemedicine, digital tools, and community engagement. By bridging the gap between remote populations and healthcare providers, they are tackling long-standing barriers to access, affordability, and quality.
In 2024, Khadija conducted an SROI analysis focused on Clinic+O’s services in Ouré-Kaba, Mamou Region, covering the period from January to June.
“With this recent experience with Clinic+O, I applied the Social Value Principles to conduct my first SROI analysis for a health programme. This analysis tries to capture the true impacts for marginalised communities in in Guinea, in West Africa, and this experience reinforced the power of data-driven insights and invited strategic decisions, improving transparency and ensuring resources are used effectively.” - Khadija Boukhobza
The results showed that for every $1 invested, Clinic+O generated $12.62 of social value, with a sensitivity range between $7.72 and $19.11. The greatest value was created for patients through better health, reduced stress, and lower financial burden. Community health workers gained skills and confidence, staff reported improved job satisfaction, and the Ministry of Health benefitted from greater efficiency and public trust.
From data to decisions
Critically, Clinic+O didn’t stop at measurement. Guided by Principle 8, the organisation used its findings to make real changes.
“Clinic+O management agreed to build an internal impacts measurement system where we integrate the indicators from this study into regular service evaluation in the future. This will enable us to have consistent data collections allowing for baseline and end line comparison to track the social value over time. I believe this is the big success”- Khadija Boukhobza
Since the study, Clinic+O has:
Integrated ongoing outcome data collection into routine monitoring, creating a framework for long-term impact measurement.
Expanded outreach to include patients from more remote villages.
Increased health education sessions by 50% for 2025, focusing on diabetes, hypertension, and preventive care.
Invested in training and supervision for community health workers.
Adopted SROI as a strategic planning tool for strategic planning and partnership development.
Expanded telemedicine services, improving accessibility and reducing patient stress.
Each of these decisions reflects the essence of Principle 8: using stakeholder evidence to prioritise what creates the greatest social value.
Why this matters
Clinic+O’s experience demonstrates how the Principles of Social Value can guide organisations to deliver more value for their stakeholders through evidenced-based decision-making. By embedding responsiveness into its operations, Clinic+O has strengthened accountability, improved service quality, and deepened community trust.
“Outputs are just numbers, like how many sessions clinics we conducted or how many people receive care from us. But when we deep dive and interact with the stakeholders, we understand what's happened from their perspective. We may have some people who receive certain services from us, when in fact they need something else.
We need to understand what they our stakeholders value, from their perspective. For that reason, it's really important to measure outcomes, not just outputs.” Khadija Boukhobza
Principle 8 reminds us that information is powerful only when it’s used to make change happen. It’s not about having perfect data, but about listening, learning, adapting and improving.
Apply Principle 8 in your work
Every organisation can apply the Principles of Social Value. Whether through stakeholder engagement, outcome measurement or in decision making processes, Principle 8 helps to ensure that social value insights translate into real-world improvements.
To learn more about the practice of Social Value & SROI, view our upcoming practitioner training courses or join our ‘Introduction to Social Value’ webinar.
With thanks to Craig Foden (Technical Manager, SVI) & Khadija Boukhobza for their contributions to this blog.
Further reading
Principle 8: Be Responsive: https://www.socialvalueint.org/principle-8-be-responsive
Learn more about the principle guiding this blog and case study, with access to supporting standards and guidance
Maximise Your Impact: A Guide for Social Entrepreneurs: https://www.socialvalueint.org/maximise-your-impact-guide
A practical guide to maximising a company’s positive impact on people’s lives
Social Value Reports Database: https://socialvalueuk.org/reports-database/
A set of free social value and social impact reports, including assured and non-assured reports from across sectors, hosted by the Institute for Social Value