Engaging party
The person who engages the social impact assessor for an assessment — often the donor — and who may or may not be the same as the responsible party actually implementing the project.
In plain language
A social impact assessment engagement involves three separate parties, and it is easy to assume two of them are the same person. They are not always.
The workbook's own words: the responsible party — the person implementing the social project — "may or may not be the party who engages the social impact assessor (the engaging party could be the donor)."
So the engaging party is simply whoever hires the assessor. Sometimes that is the same organisation running the project. Often, on the Social Stock Exchange, it is a donor who wants independent verification of what its money achieved.
How it works
The workbook sets out a three-party relationship for every social impact assessment engagement:
| Party | Role |
|---|---|
| Social impact assessor | An individual registered with the SRO under ICAI (or another SEBI-specified agency), holding a valid NISM certificate |
| Responsible party | The person(s) of the social enterprise actually implementing the project |
| Intended users | The person(s) for whom the assessor prepares the report — the responsible party can be one of these, but not the only one |
The engaging party is not listed as a fourth, separate category — it is whoever, among these, actually commissions and pays for the engagement. The workbook's specific example is a donor, which is common where a funder wants independent assurance on a project it is not itself running. The social impact assessment report itself is "ordinarily addressed to the engaging party," which is why identifying the engaging party correctly matters for who the report is written for and who receives it.
A worked example
Illustrative names and figures.
Vidya Impact Fund donates ₹90 lakh to Roshni NPO to run a girls'-education programme. Vidya Impact Fund wants independent confirmation that its donation achieved what Roshni claims.
| Role | Who fills it |
|---|---|
| Responsible party | Roshni NPO — it implements the programme |
| Engaging party | Vidya Impact Fund — it hires and pays the social impact assessor |
| Intended users | Vidya Impact Fund, and potentially Roshni's own board and the Social Stock Exchange |
The assessor's report is addressed to Vidya Impact Fund, the engaging party — not to Roshni NPO, even though Roshni is the party whose work is actually being assessed. Had Roshni itself hired the assessor to get an independent check before approaching donors, Roshni would then be both the responsible party and the engaging party at once — the two roles can coincide, they just do not have to.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 5 (Social Impact Assessment and Social Impact Assessors), section 5.9.1 (Three Party Relationship), introduces the engaging party alongside the responsible party and intended users. Expect a scenario question naming a donor, an implementing NPO and an assessor, asking which one is the engaging party.
Common exam traps
- The engaging party is not always the responsible party. The workbook's own example — a donor — is deliberately different from the NPO doing the implementation.
- The engaging party is not a fourth category alongside assessor, responsible party and intended users — it describes a role one of the existing parties (often, but not always, an intended user) plays by commissioning the engagement.
- The report is ordinarily addressed to the engaging party, which is why misidentifying the engaging party leads to misidentifying who the report is properly addressed to.
- Do not confuse the engaging party with the intended users more broadly — the engaging party is typically one of the intended users, but intended users can include others the report is prepared for.
Check yourself
1.A foundation funds an NGO's project and hires a social impact assessor to evaluate it. The NGO's programme team implements it. Who is the responsible party?
- a)The foundation, because it engaged the assessor
- b)The NGO's programme team implementing the project
- c)The social impact assessor
- d)SEBI
Show the answer
Answer: (b) The NGO's programme team implementing the project
The responsible party is the person(s) of the social enterprise involved in implementing the social project. The responsible party may or may not be the party that engages the assessor — the engaging party could be the donor, as here.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XXIIIRelated terms
- Responsible partyIn a social impact assessment, the person or persons of the social enterprise who implement the social project — one of three parties, with the assessor and the intended users.
- Social Impact AssessmentA systematic evaluation of the social, ethical, cultural and environmental consequences of a project or organisation — positive and negative, intended and unintended — taking an "outside in" view.
- Social Impact AssessorAn individual registered with an SRO (under ICAI or another SEBI-specified agency) who has passed the NISM certification and holds a valid certificate; performs independent verification of impact reports.
- Engagement fileThe assembled record — hard copy or soft copy — of an assessor's engagement documentation, which must be completed within about 60 days of the social impact assessment report and then kept, not discarded.