You may be familiar with ROI – Return on Investment – as a measurable financial outcome in the private sector. But do you know about Social Return on Investment (SROI)? And did you know that for every $1 invested in FareStart, there is a $4 return in local impact?
When people think about FareStart’s impact, they often think about students trained, jobs secured, or meals provided to food-insecure populations. Those results matter—they’re real and measurable. But they’re only part of the story.
Social Return on Investment (SROI) helps us look beyond those immediate results. It asks a deeper question: What changes when you support this work?
At its core, SROI connects today’s support to long-term outcomes for individuals, families, and the wider community. It looks at what becomes possible over time: stable employment, consistent housing, and greater financial security for those receiving services.
These outcomes can be translated into estimated economic value, including increased earnings, tax contributions, and reduced reliance on public services, offering a more complete picture of impacts that make our whole community healthier.
How This Connects to FareStart’s Work
FareStart’s model goes beyond job training. Students gain hands-on work experience in our social enterprises, build durable life skills, and access wraparound support like case management, mental health counseling, and job placement assistance.
SROI helps capture the full value of that approach.
A student may enter FareStart facing multiple barriers to employment. Through training and support, they build skills, gain confidence, and secure a job. Those moments are critical, but the impact continues. A steady income can lead to housing stability. Stability can support long-term well-being. Over time, these changes create momentum that extends far beyond the program itself.
Scaled across hundreds of students each year, FareStart’s mission creates measurable community impact.
FareStart’s SROI
In 2025, FareStart conducted a conservative SROI analysis of our work, using Social Value International’s model, and its projected impact over the next 10 years.
We collected internal data from FareStart and combined it with reputable, published data from the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Harvard Political Review, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and more to calculate the impact of FareStart’s work.
Last year, FareStart invested $11.4 million in our programs. By 2035, that work is expected to generate more than $45 million in community value through increased wages, tax contributions, and reduced public resource and food benefit costs.
In other words, every $1 invested in FareStart returns $4 in local impact.
This includes:
- $19.1 million in wages generated by graduates
- $7.7 million in housing-related savings
- $5.2 million in reduced recidivism costs
- $3.3 million in tax contributions
Why This Matters
SROI helps make visible how investment in people creates lasting, shared value.
For donors and partners, it provides a clearer understanding of how contributions translate into long-term impact. A single investment can support increased earnings, greater housing stability, and stronger communities.
Because FareStart’s work sits at the intersection of workforce development, food access, and economic mobility, those benefits extend outward, strengthening the workforce, reducing reliance on public systems, and expanding long-term opportunity.
SROI also helps guide our work, highlighting where the greatest impact is created so resources can be used as effectively as possible.
More Than a Measure
SROI is an important tool—but it’s not the full story. The confidence a student builds. The persistence it takes to keep going. The moment someone begins to see a different future, these are just as essential to success.
At FareStart, impact is built every day through individual stories of transformation. SROI helps make that impact more visible, showing how each step forward creates a ripple effect, while the work itself continues—one person at a time.
