"Panasonic NPO Support Fund" Becomes Assured by the Social Value International

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation and a public interest incorporated foundation, Public Resource Foundation, analyzed the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of the "Panasonic NPO Support Fund", which helps NPOs and NGOs strengthen their organizational capacity, and calculated its social value. As a result, the SROI report has recently been assured by Social Value International (UK), the only international institution in the world that issues the SROI report assurance.

The SROI report is the first report in Japan that has received the Social Value International assurance and it is also the first assurance case example in the world where SROI has been applied to a fund that helps strengthen organizational capacity.

SROI is a principles-based method for measuring social value (social impact) not reflected in the conventional financial calculation of investment value.

Through the Panasonic NPO Support Fund, Panasonic has provided assistance in strengthening the organizational foundation of the certified specified non-profit corporation Allergy Assistance Network for 3 consecutive years. The SROI of the assistance was calculated based on "how much stronger the organization has become" and "how much activity results it has produced" to quantitatively measure the changes the assistance has brought on.

Usually, an SROI of 1 is indicative of a positive ROI, but the calculations found that the SROI of the assistance was at least 8.82, indicating that Panasonic's assistance produced significant social value.

Moreover, this case example was assured by the Social Value International, which means that this method of evaluation was recognized as a method for measuring the social impact of the assistance provided to strengthen the organizational capacity of NPOs and NGOs.

The Allergy Assistance Network brings together local governments, companies, experts from different fields, patients and their families to share correct knowledge about allergies. It also offers assistance to patients suffering from various types of allergies including atopic allergies and chemical allergies. With the support of the Panasonic NPO Support Fund, they restructured their organization, trained their staff, and established the "Allergy University," their main activity as their core operation. The assistance provided by the Panasonic NPO Support Fund served as leverage, resulting in a significant contribution to activity results and the high evaluation.

Panasonic will share the results of the SROI to other stakeholders including NPOs and NGOs that it supports to further improve the Panasonic NPO Support Fund, and by helping NPOs and NGOs strengthen their organizational foundation, it will contribute to the sustainable development of citizenship activities, help resolve social issues, and transform societies.

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