What
is a Social Audit?
A social audit is a
systematic means of measuring the social performance of an organization.
It can be compared to the way financial auditing provides the means to account
for an organization's financial performance. While we have centuries of
experience of financial accounting, the science of social accounting is
young.
A social audit is like
an organizational Swiss Army knife. It is a planning tool, a management
tool, and a communication tool for an organization. Essentially, it is a
dialogue designed to find out what is important to the organization and
its stakeholders, to measure what is important and then to report on both
the dialogue and the measurement. The social audit creates a conversation
between an organization and its constituents or stakeholders.
WHAT DIFFERENCE
DOES A SOCIAL AUDIT MAKE?
A social audit heightens an organization's accountability and transparency.
PLAN's social audit is intended to inform our stakeholders how well PLAN
is living its values and serving its members. It addresses shortcomings
and identifies those areas where more work or a different focus is required
to secure success or continued success.
SOCIAL AUDIT CYCLE
Social auditing guides an organization's strategic directions. It is a cyclical
process that sets targets and benchmarks that become embedded in the planning
process.
One of
the biggest problems with evaluations in general is that they are not used.
Our hope is that the social audit cycle along with the key element framework
will help us to develop a vibrant social audit report that will be accessible
to all. Our commitment is to be an informed membership. Our vision is that
at the end of a social audit cycle each of our lifetime members and other
stakeholders will be able to identify how well we are performing on any
of the key elements.
HOW
IS A SOCIAL AUDIT CONDUCTED?
PLAN used a step-by-step approach for its social audit that was developed
by the Institute
for Social and Ethical Accountability.
The process
is inclusive and participatory. It relies on honest communication to strengthen
relationships with stakeholders. PLAN's social audit involved key stakeholders
across the organization in the social audit design, direction, analysis
of data and target setting. PLAN's social audit was guided by a steering
committee composed of representatives from the key stakeholder groups across
the organization. The process PLAN used for this Accountability Report has
been reviewed by an independent external consultant who is a member of the
Institute for Social and Ethical Accountability. Click
here for the Independent Reviewer's Report.
HOW
THIS ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT IS STRUCTURED
This Accountability Report contains a description of the goals and framework
for measurement used by PLAN in conducting its social audit which will provide
the reader with and overview of the design and purpose of the audit.
The bulk
of this Accountability Report is structured around nine
key elements. For each element there are four sections: a description
of the element, details of the findings, analysis of the findings and targets
for 2007.
For a
more concise overview there is an Executive
Summary and a Table
of Targets.
Click
here for a Glossary. Terms and phrases explained in the Glossary appear
in bold letters the first time they appear in this Accountability Report.
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