Values and the value of money: hypotheses on the commensurability and monetization of the impact of social projects

Abstract

The experience of monetizing the impact of projects developed by public interest organizations or by corporate social responsibility programs requires an evaluative methodology that considers outcomes expressed as facts – or immediately quantifiable changes in people’s lives – and outcomes expressed as values – or perceptions of principles and norms, communicated throughout the projects. This article aims to present and discuss the hypothesis needed for the commensurable appropriation of the factual and evaluative aspects, considering the social meanings of money identified in the circuits of exchange of public goods involved. The approach, that has as its theoretical framework the contributions by H. Putnam and A. Sen, resorts to dialogue with the economic sociology to construct measurable indicators of the impact. As a result, monetization explores the impact’s meaning to the organization, in terms of costs and social benefits; for donors, as social responsibility and added value measures; and, for beneficiaries, as a quantification of the changed perception of values and attitudes. As a method for this discussion, we apply these arguments to the assessment of a local social project, conducted in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, showing that fact and values indicators may be constructed to measure monetary aspects of the impact.