Dear readers,
SROI has become one of the most requested and least understood methods in the Indian impact sector. CSR boards ask for it, Funders reference it and the Social Stock Exchange has made impact reporting a precondition for new kinds of capital. But behind the headline ratio — “₹X of social value for every ₹1 invested” — sits a method that demands hard choices: whose voice gets counted, which outcomes get monetized, and how honestly you discount what would have happened anyway.
Two stories, one method
On 29 July, our Social Impact Dialogues series returns. The Social Impact Dialogues convene conversations on impact strategy, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems, and the methods that move data into decisions. Our first edition for 2026 puts SROI under the lens through real experiences of undertaking and using an SROI study, rather than theory alone.
Both organizations recently completed an SROI study with our team, and each is using the findings in a different conversation — one with investors, and one with a multi-funder board.
Oorja Development Solutions — the social enterprise: A social enterprise providing pay-per-use solar irrigation and climate-smart advisory services to smallholder farmers in Uttar Pradesh. Sejal Agarwal, Senior Manager – Impact, will share Oorja's experience of undertaking the SROI study, what the process revealed, and how the organisation is using the findings.
Forbes Marshall — the corporate: The Girls Scholarship Programme combines financial scholarships with sustained mentorship and support for girls from tribal communities in Khed taluka, Pune. Rutuja Chaphekar, CSR Manager, will share the experience of applying SROI to a long-term education programme, the complexities of understanding and valuing social outcomes, and how the findings are being used with programme stakeholders.
Sharon Weir, Co-Founder of The 4th Wheel, moderates. Our team conducted both studies, allowing the conversation to go beyond the final findings and explore the practical choices, challenges and learning involved in undertaking an SROI study.
Three questions structure the hour
Why SROI — what question were you trying to answer that another method could not?
What surprised you — about the process, the findings, or your own programme?
What happened after — how are the findings shaping funding conversations, strategy and programme design today?
This one is for NGO leaders and MEAL heads considering an SROI study, CSR and foundation teams evaluating their portfolios, funders who receive SROI reports and need to read them critically, and social entrepreneurs building an evidence case for investors.
If the timing does not work, register anyway — we will send the recording to everyone who signs up.
About 4th Wheel Social Impact
Founded in 2010, 4th Wheel works with funders, NGOs, and government partners across India and South Asia on impact strategy, MEAL systems, and evaluation. We focus on building evidence systems that are field-grounded, methodologically rigorous, and useful to the people making decisions.
Warmly,
4th Wheel Social Impact Team