SROI Analysis, Albergo Etico social performance

Location: Asti, Pistoia, Roma

Duration: November 2018 – April 2019

Client: Albergo Etico of Cooperativa Download

Context

The story of Albergo Etico starts in 2006 from when the two brothers Antonio and Egidio De Benedetto, (managers of the restaurant Tacabanda of Asti) met Niccolò, a boy with Down syndrome who came to work for an internship in their restaurant. Between 2006 and 2015, work inclusion experience of people with Down syndrome grew and in 2015, after the arrival of Alex Toselli, the first Albergo Etico managed by the Download Cooperative opened in Asti.

The model requires that youngsters with disabilities acquire skills in their workplace and then replicate them in their private lives. For this reason it was important to combine a hotel with a work experience in a restaurant, so that the young people could learn to move independently in the city, how to maintain order and cleanliness of the common spaces around them, and to interact with people who they did not know, but also to face unexpected events and learn collaboration with others, in a path that intertwines working growth and the conquest of personal autonomy.

General Objective

The Download Cooperative pays high attention to the impact of its activity. The analysis of social performance through the SROI methodology therefore aimed for a better understanding of the changes, and their intensity, produced on the beneficiaries. The Download Cooperative has therefore decided to deeply analyze the social value of the socio-occupational inclusion model tested at Albergo Etico. By the same occasione, the Cooperative decided to calculate the social performance of the two new hotels in Rome (opened in November 2018) and Pistoia (scheduled to open in 2020).

Thanks also to direct involvement of the main beneficiaries and stakeholders, this analysis identifies the components of the model that produce great social value, providing the Download Cooperative with the most appropriate tools to enhance the impact and implement any improvement strategies.

 

Our contribution

The SROI methodology with which ARCO Researchers measured a company social performance is based on the identification of the activities through the application of an input-output-outcome-impact model and the extensive involvement of the main stakeholders. The involvement of stakeholders is essential to avoid self-referential decision processes, as well as the duplication of the same measurement for different categories of stakeholders and the incorrect (or subjective) attribution of indicators and outcome.

The SROI index describes the social and economic impact of the activities of Albergo Etico and Cooperativa Download on its beneficiaries and stakeholders.

SROI index indice social return on investment social impact impatto sociale

By applying the input-output-outcome-impact model and involving stakeholders through questionnaires and focus groups, ARCO Researchers calculated that for the 2018 fiscal year the Download Cooperative has generated a social return of € 3.72 for each 1€ invested.

 
ARCO Researchers also calculated the SROI Index for the 2019 fiscal year of the Albergo Etico in Rome (inaugurated in November 201) and for the one that will open in Pistoia in 2020. In the first case the SROI Index was 5.11 while in the second 5.

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