WHAT IS VALUE MADE VISIBLE?
You create value every day. We help make it visible.
Value Made Visible helps organizations quantify and communicate the social and economic value their programs create. Selected organizations receive a fully sponsored SROI project, at no cost, to uncover what changes, why it matters, and how to use that story to strengthen funding, partnerships, and community impact.
Who it's for
Small and medium-sized nonprofit and community-based organizations, typically with annual budgets under $5 million.
What you receive
A fully sponsored SROI project valued at $10,000–$25,000, including analysis, reporting, and a public-facing summary.
What we ask
Timely access to information, active participation, and openness to sharing learning to help advance the sector.
This initiative is a strong fit if your organization or program:
Does prevention, stabilization, or victim/survivor support work
Wants to strengthen funding and partner conversations
Needs help capturing the value traditional reports miss
Has a defined program and some data or documentation
Wants to use your data more strategically
Applications Open: July 20, 2026
Application Deadline: August 31, 2026
Organizations Notified: September 15, 2026
Project Kickoff Period: October 1, 2026
Estimated Project Completion: December 20, 2026
Fall 2026 Cycle
KEY DATES:
Winter 2027 Cycle
Applications Open: July 20, 2026
Application Deadline: November 30, 2026
Organizations Notified: December 15, 2026
Project Kickoff Period: January 15, 2027
Estimated Project Completion: March 31, 2027
Our Focus Sectors and Areas
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Eligibility
Value Made Visible is designed for small and medium-sized nonprofit and community-based organizations that are doing meaningful work but may not have the internal evaluation capacity or flexible funding to complete an SROI independently.
Applications are open to organizations with annual operating budgets under $5 million. Small organizations are generally those with annual budgets up to $1 million, while medium-sized organizations are generally those with annual budgets between $1 million and $5 million.
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This initiative is especially well suited for organizations working in prevention, survivor support, family stability, youth justice, re-entry, community safety, housing support, school-based supports, or other programs where the full value of the work is difficult to capture through traditional reporting.
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Organizations do not need perfect data to apply. A strong applicant will usually have a clearly defined program or service stream, some existing data or documentation, leadership support, and a willingness to participate actively in the SROI process.
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Value Made Visible is open to U.S.-based organizations, with priority consideration for organizations in Arizona, Colorado and Texas.
This may be a strong fit if your organization:
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Has a defined program or service stream
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Serves communities in one of the initiative’s priority areas
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Has some existing program data, reports, records, or participant feedback
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Wants to better communicate the value of prevention, stabilization, or community-based support
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Is willing to participate in the project and share learning in an agreed-upon way
Need additional details?
Download the Information Package for complete eligibility criteria, expectations, timelines, and selection considerations.​​​
What Your Organization Receives
Selected organizations receive a fully sponsored Social Return on Investment project completed by Uncommon Evaluation. Each project is valued at approximately $10,000–$25,000, depending on the final scope, program complexity, available data, and agreed-upon deliverables.
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The project is designed to help your organization better understand and communicate the social and economic value your work creates. Rather than focusing only on how many people were served or how many activities were delivered, the SROI process helps identify what changed, why those changes matter, and how that value can be communicated to funders, board members, partners, and the broader community.
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A typical Value Made Visible project may include:
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A review of existing program documents, data, reports, and relevant evidence
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A clear summary of the selected program or service model
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Stakeholder and outcome mapping
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Identification of key areas of social and economic value
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SROI analysis using available evidence, reasonable assumptions, and relevant financial proxies
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A written SROI report summarizing findings, assumptions, limitations, and strategic implications
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A shorter public-facing summary, case study, or learning product where appropriate
The final deliverables will be confirmed with each selected organization before the project begins. The goal is to produce findings that are credible, practical, and useful for funding conversations, board education, program communication, partnership development, and sector learning.
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Need additional details?
Download the Information Package for more information about project scope, deliverables, timelines, and examples of how SROI findings can be used.
Sample Public-Facing Summaries
Below are a few fictional sample SROI executive summaries to show how findings from a Value Made Visible project may be structured and communicated. These examples are not based on actual organizations or clients, but they illustrate the types of program information, outcomes, valuation approaches, and strategic insights that may be included in a completed SROI summary. They are intended to help applicants understand what a final public-facing SROI product could look like.
What We Ask
Value Made Visible is fully sponsored, but it is not a passive process. Selected organizations are expected to actively participate so the final SROI is credible, useful, and grounded in the realities of the program. Tiny catch, apparently the evidence does not gather itself.
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Participating organizations must be able to provide timely access to relevant program information, including documents, data, reports, budgets, outcome records, participant feedback, or other materials that help explain how the program works and what value it creates.
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Selected organizations are also asked to identify a primary contact person who can coordinate communication, respond to questions, schedule meetings, and review draft materials within agreed timelines.
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Because this initiative is also intended to support broader sector learning, selected organizations should be open to sharing learning from the project in an appropriate way. This may include a public-facing summary, anonymized case study, testimonial, webinar, conference presentation, funder conversation, or another mutually agreed format.
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Uncommon Evaluation occasionally partners with universities to provide supervised student learning opportunities in evaluation, SROI, research, and data analysis. Where appropriate, selected organizations should be open to discussing student involvement, including student review or analysis of program data with appropriate confidentiality, privacy, and data protection safeguards in place.
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The goal is to make the process manageable, respectful, and useful while ensuring the final SROI can be used confidently by the organization and contribute to stronger conversations about social value.
Important work should not remain invisible.
Value Made Visible helps you understand the value you create and helps others see it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this really free for selected organizations?
Yes. Selected organizations receive a fully sponsored SROI project at no cost. The project has an estimated value of $10,000–$25,000, depending on the final scope. Because this is a selective partnership, participating organizations are expected to contribute time, information, and a willingness to share learning from the project in some form.
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What does “fully sponsored” mean?
Fully sponsored means that Uncommon Evaluation is covering the cost of the project as part of this annual initiative. The work still has a defined value, scope, and timeline, but selected organizations are not charged a fee to participate.
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Do we need perfect data to apply?
No. Many organizations do not have perfect data. The SROI process can work with existing evidence, reasonable assumptions, and clearly stated limitations. However, organizations do need some relevant information about their program, participants, services, costs, and outcomes. If there is not enough available information to support a credible SROI, Uncommon Evaluation may recommend a different starting point.
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Can the case study be anonymized?
Yes. Public learning can take different forms depending on the nature of the work and the sensitivity of the information involved. Some organizations may be able to participate in a named case study. Others may require an anonymized case study, aggregated learning summary, or limited public-facing discussion of the findings. These details will be discussed and agreed upon before the project begins.
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What kinds of organizations are most likely to be selected?
The strongest applicants are usually organizations with a clearly defined program, existing data, leadership support, and a strong reason for wanting to understand or communicate social value. Priority will be given to organizations working in areas aligned with Uncommon Evaluation’s focus areas, including prevention and early intervention, child and family wellbeing, anti-trafficking, youth justice, re-entry, school-based supports, and community safety.
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Can organizations outside Arizona, Texas and Colorado apply?
Yes. The initiative is open to U.S.-based organizations. Arizona, Texas and Colorado organizations will receive priority consideration because of Uncommon Evaluation’s project team presence in those states, but organizations in other states are welcome to apply when there is a strong strategic fit.
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What happens if we are not selected?
Organizations that are not selected may still be invited to explore other options with Uncommon Evaluation, including paid SROI projects, evaluation audits, readiness assessments, logic model development, or other forms of evaluation support.
Because only a small number of organizations are selected each year, not being selected does not necessarily mean the organization or program is not a strong candidate for SROI.
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Can we pay for an SROI if we are not selected?
Yes. Organizations interested in pursuing a paid SROI project can contact Uncommon Evaluation directly to discuss scope, timing, and pricing.