How we calculate our social return
The 5.83 € is not a slogan. It is the result of a simple calculation: the social and environmental value we created, divided by the year's expenses. Here are the real figures, the values we used and every step of the division, so that you can check it.
The formula
Net social & environmental value ÷ the year's expenses = SROI ratio
817,750.66 €÷140,170.65 €=5.83 €
The actual 2025 figures
Recorded in our own field records: Hood Hero Tracker, ΔΙ.Δ.Α.Ζ. missions, school and company programmes.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Volunteers in clean-ups | 6,373 |
| Volunteers in wildlife rescues | 510 |
| Litres of waste collected | 784,588 |
| Wild animals rescued | 183 |
| Farm animals rescued | 163 |
| Companion animals rescued | 52 |
| Mission kilometres | 11,143 |
| Pupils educated | 1,316 |
| The year's expenses | €140,170.65 |
The value we assign to each result
These values are the organisation's own choices. They are published openly so that any funder can challenge them or propose a different one.
| What we count | Value | How it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteer hours per participant in a clean-up | 3.5 hours | Multiplied by the value of an hour. |
| Value of one volunteer hour in a clean-up | €9.00 | The value we assign to one hour of giving. |
| Hours per volunteer on a rescue mission | 8 hours | Multiplied by the value of a rescue hour. |
| Value of one hour on a rescue mission | €15.00 | Higher than a clean-up: it takes training, equipment and readiness. |
| Value per litre of waste removed from the environment | €0.45 | Applied to every litre collected. |
| Recycling value per 1,000 litres | €85.00 | Added on top of the collection value. |
| Value of rescuing one wild animal | €1,000.00 | Multiplied by every wild animal. |
| Value of rescuing one farm animal | €300.00 | Multiplied by every farm animal. |
| Care per animal rescued | €100.00 | Added for every animal, whatever the species. |
| Value per mission kilometre | €2.692 | Stands for the travel cost of the rescue. |
| Value per pupil educated | €49.39 | Multiplied by every pupil. |
Where the values come from & supporting evidence
The explanations below come from the organisation's supporting documentation. General valuation methods do not, by themselves, validate the specific rates. Where a dated contract, study or table with a page reference has not been supplied, the value remains a model assumption, not a verified official tariff.
- Clean-up work · €9.00 / hour
- We use replacement cost: what equivalent paid work would cost. Our estimate includes wages, employer contributions and annual bonus payments. The wage reference year and the calculation supporting €9 still need separate documentation. ILO — Manual on the Measurement of Volunteer Work ↗
- Specialist rescue work · €15.00 / hour
- An estimate for trained field work requiring equipment and involving risk. The documentation refers to sector agreements and forest-protection pay scales; a specific agreement or pay table validating this rate has not yet been supplied.
- Waste removal · €0.45 / litre
- The estimate covers manual collection, transport and sorting in hard-to-access ecosystems, not ordinary bin collection. It assumes 0.15 kg per litre and €3 per kg. Specific public procurement contracts and evidence for waste density are still needed, along with a check that collection labour is not counted again under volunteering.
- Wildlife & animal care
- The model assigns €1,000.00 per wild animal, €300.00 per farm animal and €100.00 for care of each animal. The documentation cites ecological value, ecosystem services, ELGA compensation tables and veterinary fees. A specific legal instrument, species-level tables or fee schedules supporting these uniform rates have not been supplied. Loss compensation and rescue benefits are not automatically equivalent.
- Education, research & prevention · €49.39 / pupil
- An internal blended proxy: an estimated €65,000 divided by the 1,316 pupils in 2025, rounded. It includes school programmes, waste prevention and citizen-science projects such as mapping the Profitis Daniil stream with Deree and the regeneration of the 45th Primary School. It is not an official per-pupil tariff; use in later years requires reviewing the mix of activities.
- Recycling & emissions
- The supporting file mentions €85 per tonne of CO₂ with reference to the EU ETS. However, the existing algorithm applies €85.00 per 1,000 litres of waste, not per tonne of CO₂. Without an evidenced conversion from litres to avoided emissions, these units are not equivalent. We retain the original calculation and flag this unresolved issue. Carbon prices also vary and require a reference period. Council of the EU — EU ETS ↗
- Other assumptions
- The 3.5 clean-up hours, 8 rescue hours, €2.692 per kilometre and 22% deduction remain assumptions in the original model. The file provides no additional evidence for them. Time records, a basis for travel valuation and justification for the deduction are needed.
The calculation step by step
| Value stream | Calculation | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteering | 6,373 × 3.5 h × €9.00 + 510 × 8 h × €15.00 | 261,949.50 € |
| Waste | 784,588 × €0.45 + (784,588 ÷ 1,000) × €85.00 | 419,754.58 € |
| Wildlife | 183 × €1,000.00 + 163 × €300.00 + 398 × €100.00 + 11,143 × €2.692 | 301,696.96 € |
| Education | 1,316 × €49.39 | 64,997.24 € |
| Total gross value | 1,048,398.28 € | |
| Deduction of 22% (deadweight & attributed value) | −230,647.62 € | |
| Net social & environmental value | 817,750.66 € | |
| The year's expenses | 140,170.65 € | |
| SROI ratio | 5.83 € |
Why we remove the 22%
Part of the change would have happened without us, part belongs to others — partners, local authorities, volunteers acting on their own — and part of the results is never completed. That is why we remove a fixed 22% before the division, so the ratio is conservative rather than optimistic.
What this number does not measure
- A change of mindset, a cleaner neighbourhood and trust between neighbours do not fit into the ratio.
- It is the organisation's own study, with our own data and visible assumptions — it has not been assured by an external body.
- The 2025 figures are final. The 2026 figure has not been measured yet.
2026
For 2026 we set a target of up to €6.50: new infrastructure and the training of local rescue and clean-up teams across Greece. The target is written as "up to", not as a measured result.
Questions or corrections? Write to info@saveyourhood.gr.