For all the talk about social value, almost no one funds the thinking behind it.
Money is poured into projects, volunteering hours, and evidence reports, but not into the planning, mapping, and strategy that make social value actually work. It’s like paying to build the house but refusing to pay for the architect.
As I said during my talk for the Institute for Social Value, “Every charity would love to deliver perfect social value, they just can’t afford to design it.”
That’s the missing link.
The invisible cost of good intentions
Every time a charity is asked to deliver a project for a contractor, it has to work out what the evidence demands are, how to measure outcomes, how to manage volunteers, and how to report impact. Most do this unpaid, in their own time, on top of everything else they already do.
So while public contracts move millions, the charities that actually deliver the social value are often left absorbing the real cost.
This isn’t a lack of willingness, but it is a lack of investment in design.
As I said in the session, “Social value providers are only ever funded with people and money to do the work, never to plan it.”
Why the system breaks
Under the Procurement Act 2023, social value is mandatory. But the system assumes that delivery just happens, that charities are waiting around for projects, with spare capacity and spare staff.
That’s fantasy.
Charities are already stretched too thin. When they’re suddenly asked to take on new projects, it can do more harm than good. I’ve seen organisations overwhelmed by what one homeless charity called “an overdose of money and time.” A sudden flood of volunteers and donations that they couldn’t sustain after the contract ended.
Short-term impact, long-term disruption.
Social value shouldn’t break the people who deliver it.
Funding the design layer
If we want better social value outcomes, we have to start funding the strategic layer, the people who plan, connect, and build the systems that make it work.
That means resourcing the creation of:
- Modular, investable projects that can start and stop with funding cycles.
- Mapping exercises that link local needs to contractor obligations.
- Training and guidance for charities to understand procurement language and evidence requirements.
- Coordination roles that match businesses to projects before tenders go live.
This is the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work that makes everything else flow smoothly. It saves money, prevents duplication, and ensures social value is done with communities, not to them.
If we fund that planning, we’ll get delivery that’s cheaper, faster, and genuinely impactful.
A system built to last
Imagine if every local authority had a “Social Value Studio”, a shared resource where businesses, councils, and charities co-design projects that meet upcoming procurement needs.
Charities would be ready with structured, evidence-backed programmes. Contractors would have trusted partners lined up. Councils would get measurable outcomes without the chaos.
That’s how we make social value a real industry, one that’s strategic, collaborative, and sustainable.
Because social value shouldn’t just fund the work. It should fund the wisdom that makes the work possible.
Social value hasn’t come very far since the Procurement Act made it law. No one seems to have a good plan to deliver it.
The next step is to make it liveable. That means investing in the thinkers, not just the doers, because strategy is what turns good intentions into lasting impact.
That’s how we stop managing social value as a contract clause and start building it as a movement.