TOR: Training on Social Return on Investment (SROI) Methodology and Concept for the Hibret Alliance SROI Think Tank (15 Required)

About Hibret Alliance

The Hibret Alliance is a strategic partnership of six organizations Bushulo Mother, Newborn and Child Health Specialty Center (BMNCHSC), the Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission Branch Offices of Meki and Hawassa (ECC-SDCBOM & ECC-SDCOHA), HELVETAS Swiss Inter cooperation, SOS Children’s Villages, and Spiritan Community Outreach Ethiopia (SCORE) working across the Sidama, Oromia, Central Ethiopia, and South Ethiopia Regions.

A core commitment of the Alliance is to understand, communicate, and maximize the holistic value created by its member projects. To achieve this, the Alliance has identified Social Return on Investment (SROI) as a key methodology. SROI is a robust, stakeholder-informed framework that quantifies social, environmental, and economic outcomes in monetary terms, capturing the value generated for participants and the broader community.

About Think Tank Group

To guide this strategic effort, the Alliance has established a SROI Think Tank, composed of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) experts from each member organization. This group will be central to ensuring technical rigor, collective ownership, and capacity building for all SROI related activities within the Alliance. The Hibret Alliance is preparing to conduct complex SROI evaluations for two of its flagship projects: the UP-Women project (led by HELVETAS) and the ABCD project (led by SOS Children’s Villages). For the Think Tank to effectively fulfill its responsibilities including methodology review, analysis review, and holding final validation, members of the Think Tank group require a deep, practical, and shared understanding of the SROI framework. This training will establish a common language, ensure consistent application of standards, and build enduring in-house capacity.

Rationale and Overall Objective of the Training

Training in Social Return on Investment (SROI) is essential for think tank groups because it strengthens their capacity to measure and communicate the real value of social programs, policies, and development interventions. SROI provides a structured approach to identify stakeholders, map outcomes, assign value to social change, and demonstrate accountability to donors, government signatories, and the community.

By equipping think tank professionals with SROI skills, the training enhances evidence-based analysis, improves program evaluation, and supports more strategic decision making. It also enables think tanks to translate complex social impacts into clear value statements that can influence policy debates and resource allocation. In development contexts where resources are limited, applying SROI helps institutions justify investments by showing how social benefits compare to costs.

Objective of the SROI Training

Main objective

The primary objective of this training is to equip the Hibret Alliance SROI Think Tank group members with the foundational knowledge, practical skills, and confidence to effectively oversee, validate, and utilize SROI evaluations. The training will have a specific focus on their role in the upcoming UP-Women and ABCD projects’ SROI studies, serving as live case studies to ensure practical application and immediate relevance.

Specific objective

Specific Objectives for the training include:

• To provide participants with a clear understanding of the principles, concepts, and stages of the Social Return on Investment (SROI) approach.
• To strengthen skills in identifying key stakeholders and mapping expected outcomes of social or development initiatives.
• To build practical capacity in measuring social outcomes and assigning monetary values to social change.
• To develop participants’ ability to calculate and interpret the SROI ratio to assess the value created relative to the investment made.
• To improve the ability of think tanks to integrate SROI analysis into research, policy evaluation, and program assessment.
• To enhance participants’ skills in tracking the study process, enhance assessment reports and communicate to relevant stakeholders like donors, signatories and community.

Scope

Participants

The participants of this training will be members of Think Tank group which was established to plan and regulate the SROI assessment for ABCD II and UP-Women projects, review the study results and submit the final report. The participants in the training in total will be about 12 including the Think tank group members, the alliance coordinator and few selected colleagues. .

Proposed Phases and Main Content of the Training

Phase 1: Training Design & Customization (8 days)

1. Conduct a desk review of the provided TORs for the UP-Women and ABCD impact evaluations to understand the specific projects and the Think Tank’s role.
2. Hold a virtual kick-off meeting with the Hibret Alliance Coordinator and a representative from the Think Tank to tailor training content and confirm learning objectives.
3. Develop a detailed training curriculum, agenda, and all participant materials, customizing the use of the UP-Women and ABCD projects as live case studies.
4. Administer a pre-training assessment to evaluate participants’ existing knowledge of SROI and tailor content accordingly.
5. Prepare and disseminate pre-training reading materials to ensure a common baseline of knowledge.

Phase 2: Training Delivery (5 days)

1. Deliver the training on SROI methods, tools, and implementation modalities.
2. Use a variety of teaching methods ( to keep the training engaging and interactive.
3. Provide opportunities for participants to practice what they learn.
4. Issue certificates of completion to all participants who successfully complete the training.

Phase 3: Post-Training Support (7 days for reporting + follow-up)

1. Compile and deliver all final training materials in digital format, including facilitator’s guide, presentations, handouts, case study exercises, and a list of key resources.
2. Produce and submit a comprehensive Training Report summarizing sessions, key discussions, and participant feedback.
3. Conduct one virtual follow-up session (half-day) one month after the training to answer questions, review progress, and reinforce key concepts.

Main Contents

The main contents of the training at least must cover the following topics:

The main contents of the training at least must cover the following topics:

Day	Core Topics	Link to Think Tank Role
Day 1: Foundations	Introduction to SROI: The Seven Principles. SROI vs. other evaluation approaches. Deep Dive: Stakeholder Involvement and Mapping. Workshop: Developing a Theory of Change and Impact Map using UP-Women and ABCD projects as case studies.	Validating stakeholder maps and the Theory of Change for both projects.
Day 2: Indicators & Data	Evidencing Outcomes: From indicators to data. Deep Dive: The Concept of ‘Impact’ (Deadweight, Attribution, Displacement, Drop-off). Workshop: Calculating Impact. Introduction to data collection tools.	Reviewing proposed data collection tools and methodologies. Critically assessing the selection and justification of indicators.
Day 3: Valuation & Financial Proxies	Deep Dive: Valuing What Matters – Financial Proxies. How to find and justify them using Ethiopian data sources (CSA, World Bank, academic studies). Workshop: Identifying and testing financial proxies.	Critically assessing the selection and justification of financial proxies.
Day 4: Modeling & SROI Calculation	Introduction to the SROI Financial Model. Calculating the SROI Ratio and Net Present Value. Sensitivity analysis. Hands-on exercises with sample data.	Confidently interpreting draft SROI reports and models. Providing informed feedback during validation stages.
Day 5: Application, Reporting & Communication	Integrating SROI into research, policy evaluation, and program assessment. Communicating SROI results to donors, signatories, and community members. Ethics and child safeguarding in SROI. Final group exercise: Presenting a mock validation feedback session.	Preparing to review final SROI reports and communicate findings effectively.

 

Methodology

The training will be highly participatory and learner-centered, employing a mix of:

• Expert Input Sessions: Short, focused presentations to introduce key concepts.
• Plenary Discussions: To explore nuances and share experiences.
• Case Study-Based Group Work: Participants will work in small groups on exercises specifically designed around the UP-Women and ABCD projects. This is the core learning methodology.
• Hands-on Data Exercises: Working with sample data to calculate deadweight and attribution, or to test a financial proxy.
• Language of Instruction: The training will be delivered in English.

Work Plan and Deliverables

1. Work Plan

The total level of effort for this assignment is estimated 20 days (8 days for material development, 5 days for providing the training and 7 days for compiling report.) The consultant is expected to start the task in the beginning of May 2026 and finalized by May 2020, 2026 2026. The consultant is expected to submit clear timetable for this task using the following table.

Activities	Dates	Time frame	Location

Expected Results and Deliverables

The consultant/firm will be responsible for providing the following deliverables:

The consultant/firm will be responsible for providing the following deliverables:

Deliverable 1: Inception Report and Training Materials: An inception report detailing the final methodology, approach, and timelines for the assignment. This will include a draft agenda, pre-reading materials, and the outline for all training modules, demonstrating how the UP-Women and ABCD projects will be integrated as case studies. (Due: One week before the training)

Deliverable 2: Training Delivery: Successful facilitation of the 5 days in-person, participatory training workshop on SROI methodology for the Hibret Alliance SROI Think Tank group. (Due: End of Training week)

Deliverable 3: Final Training Package and Report: A digital compilation of all final training materials (facilitator’s guide, presentations, handouts, exercises). A final Training Report summarizing the workshop, including key discussions, participant feedback, and recommendations for the Think Tank’s next steps. (Due: One week after training completion)

Child Safeguarding and ethical issues

SOS Children’s Villages is committed to ensuring that all research, training, evaluation and data collection processes (i.e. evidence-generating activities) undertaken by SOS Children’s Villages and its partners are ethical and respect child safeguarding policy and procedure.

The consultant must respect the rights, dignity and protection of children and other vulnerable population groups, staffs and partners; and should ensure special protection for children and other vulnerable groups during any data-generating activities to minimize any potential risks. Any research, training, evaluation and data collection SOS Children’s Villages is directly carried out or is involved in as a partner.

Ethical practices need to be ensured in the following circumstances:

• Any research, baseline, midterm, final evaluations, training and data collection SOS Children’s Villages has commissioned for ethical oversight of these processes.
• Any research, evaluation, training and data collection carried out by researchers/trainers/consultants on SOS Children’s Villages programmes and participants.

Hence, relevant Alliance coordinator and MEAL coordinator (and team leader of Think Tank team) in Hawassa will ensure that any researchers, evaluators, trainers and data collectors should receive awareness training on, sign and adhere to SOS Children’s Villages core policies:

Obtaining consent from research/ training participant is central to the research relationship and signals respect for the research participant’s dignity, their capability to express their views and their right to have these heard in matters that affect them. Informed consent is an explicit agreement which requires participants to be informed about and understand the research/assessment/training. This must be given voluntarily and be renegotiable, so that participants may withdraw at any stage of the research process.

Logistical Arrangements

The Hibret Alliance is responsible for providing:

• Providing technical comments and feedback on the outputs/deliverables of the assignment in a timely manner.
• Providing logistical support for convening the training, including securing a venue, inviting participants, and arranging for necessary equipment.
• Providing general oversight and a single point of contact to facilitate the smooth roll-out of the consultancy.
• Handling all logistical requirements for the consultant(s) if applicable, such as transportation and accommodation arrangements, as agreed upon in the contract.
• Making payment in installments as agreed upon in the contract, based on successful completion and acceptance of deliverables.

Duration of the contract and terms of payment

Payment will be made only upon SOS Children’s Villages’/Hibret Alliance’ acceptance of the work performed in accordance with the above-described deliverables. Financial proposals should include proposed stage payments. Payment will be affected by bank transfer in the currency of birr.

Funding and Payment: The consultant/lead trainer will be paid by SOS Children’s Villages as follows:

• 40% on the submission and approval of the inception report and training materials.
• 60% on completion of the final Training Package and Report.

Duration of contract: the contract is effective from the moment it was signed until the acceptance of work by the SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia management team.

Notice of delay

Shall the successful bidder encounter a delay in the performance of the contract which may be excusable under unavoidable circumstances; the contractor shall notify SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia in writing about the causes of any such delays within one (1) week from the beginning of the delay.

After receipt of the Contractor’s notice of delay, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia/Hibret Alliance shall analyze the facts and extent of the delay and extend the time for performance when in its judgment the facts justify such an extension.

Copyright and other proprietary rights

SOS Children’s Villages/Hibret Alliance shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights including, but not limited to, copyrights, and trademarks, with regard to products, processes, inventions, ideas, know-how, or documents and other materials which the Contractor has developed for SOS Children’s Villages/Hibret Alliance under the Contract and which bear a direct relation to or are produced or prepared or collected in consequence of or during the course of, the performance of the Contract. The Contractor acknowledges and agrees that such products, documents, and other materials constitute works made for hire for SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia, Hawassa Programme/Hibret Alliance.

All materials: interviews, reports, training materials, and all other data compiled by or received by the Contractor under the Contract shall be the property of SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia/Hibret Alliance and shall be treated as confidential and shall be delivered only to SOS Children’s Villages/Hibret Alliance authorized officials on completion of work under the Contract. The external consultant is obliged to hand over all raw data collected during the terminal evaluation to SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia.

Termination

The termination of the service agreement for the assignment will be in accordance with the contractual agreement to be included at the formal agreement’s actual signing.

Signing of the contract

The signing of the contract will follow the awarding of the assignment. It is tentatively scheduled for End of March 2026.

Rights of SOS Children’s Villages

SOS-CVE/Hibret Alliance has the right to cancel the service contract if the consultant cannot comply with any standards articulated in the service agreement. SOS-CVE/Hibret Alliance has the right to hold the terminal evaluation result as its own sole property.

Qualification of the Researcher/Trainer and Team

The lead trainer/consultant/firm must have:

• An advanced degree in Economics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Evaluation, or a related field.
• Deep and demonstrated expertise in Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology, with a strong and verifiable track record of conducting and publishing SROI analyses.
• Proven experience (at least 5-7 years) in designing and delivering high-quality, participatory training programs for adult learners in the development sector.
• Excellent command of spoken and written English.