As a corporate social responsibility (CSR) professional, you know all too well that the costs of many platforms that help you do your job outweigh their benefits. Whether your organization is just getting started with CSR or has established programs, scouring the market for the right tool is never simple. That’s partially because what to look for in a social impact platform depends so heavily on your needs.
One platform that CSR teams may consider is Deed, a platform focused on workplace giving and volunteering. But how great of a social impact platform is Deed, really, and is it the right fit for your organization? Join us as we unpack how Deed works and stacks up to Groundswell, the all-in-one platform for modern philanthropists.
Deed describes itself as a “workplace giving and volunteering platform” that focuses heavily on user experience. Connecting with employees and creating communities are key missions for Deed, which positions itself as a tool for making the workplace more engaging.
At a glance, Deed appears to focus less on enabling organizations to maximize their social impact and more on internal support for their giving programs.
Deed’s software may be a good start for engaging teams and boosting morale, but it may not be robust enough to support organizations looking to make a measurable impact both in and outside of their internal operations. It also doesn't have integrated support for grantmaking or employee assistance support.
Deed does not claim to be a purpose-built corporate giving software. Instead, it’s focused only on workplace giving and volunteering. That means that its capabilities are more limited than what you might find in a comprehensive or legacy platform.
The platform focuses on using simple, interactive, and highly visual dashboards to separate its different functionalities. With Deed, users can explore different communities and nonprofits and join existing opportunities or create their own.
A simplistic platform may sound ideal at first, but it has one key downside: a lack of scalability. As your CSR or social impact programs diversify and grow and you begin to look into additional programs like grantmaking and employee hardship funds, you need a tool that can keep up and adapt to fit your changing goals.
If you’re considering Deed as a tool for CSR or social impact management, it helps to understand how its features compare to what else is out there. Below, we take a deeper dive into how Deed compares to Groundswell to break down the essential differences between these two platforms.
A look around Deed’s website reveals that the platform has only two main product offerings for CSR and social impact teams: employee giving and volunteering. The other main feature presented to CSR teams is access to Deed’s “content library” of giving and volunteering opportunities hosted by nonprofits.
While it’s great that Deed manages to bring opportunities to give back to employees, it doesn’t offer the full line-up of programming and unique capabilities that Groundswell does.
Groundswell gives CSR teams everything they need to engage employees, make a positive impact on their communities, and bring value to their organizations.
In Deed’s software, employee volunteering and giving are the main program options CSR teams can take advantage of. Access to “communities” is also possible, but this functionality may be more helpful for managing human resources than corporate social responsibility.
Deed also offers access to a grants management product, but it is a tool that is separate from the platform’s other modules, meaning it requires a third-party platform, won't integrate directly with your social impact data, and comes with additional costs.
Groundswell, on the other hand, is an all-in-one platform that centralizes CSR program management into a single hub. Team leaders and employees alike can help plan and participate in valuable CSR programs like:
Whether you’re looking to plan a large-scale campaign or a single, small event, Groundswell’s platform has the features you need to plan, launch, and execute your vision.
Despite its importance for organizations and their communities, CSR is something that many businesses are hesitant to invest in. Why? Because CSR can be expensive – sometimes prohibitively so.
The cost of legacy CSR software has traditionally been at the heart of this issue, making it infeasible for many businesses to dip their toes into corporate philanthropy. But today, with access to so many different tools, CSR teams have the flexibility they need to choose a platform that makes sense for their budget and goals.
Unfortunately, Deed grants potential users little to no access to its pricing information outside of a live demo.
There’s no information on Deed’s website listing information about different price tiers or plans, which makes it tricky to identify whether it’s a realistic option for you. It’s also not clear whether individual modules are priced separately or can be bundled together to help users save on costs.
At Groundswell, we strive to be as transparent about our pricing as we can be. Our Benefactor plan starts at $4,500 per year, which is one of the lowest costs you’ll find on the market. Democratizing philanthropy is a core mission of our platform, which means it must be accessible to teams of all sizes.
We offer upfront cost estimates for most of our plans. Our enterprise plan, which is highly customizable and unique to each client, is the only tier we don’t provide upfront figures for – working with our team is the best way to figure out what costs will look like for you.
When it comes down to it, only Groundswell has the ability to centralize your CSR programs and help you save on costs. Plus, with unique employee benefits like donor-advised funds (DAFs), Groundswell still gives you plenty of ways to support your people – all without compromising on your ability to change the world.
We know how essential it is to create a platform that helps employees feel connected to their organizations. In fact, those who do feel connected are more than 5x as likely as their less-connected peers to stay at their workplace.
Options like Deed offer some of the capabilities CSR teams may need to build effective programs, but they don’t manage to score points for thoroughness and intuitiveness quite like Groundswell does.
With Groundswell, CSR teams can activate employees to become agents of change, whether they’re completing work tasks or shaping the world around them.
Choosing the right software could make or break your CSR programs. Finding a tool that meets your needs without breaking the bank is essential for organizations that hope to scale their programs as they grow.
Invest in a tool that can support everything from volunteerism to donation matching, grantmaking, employee assistance, and more with Groundswell.
To see how our social impact platform rises above the rest, including Deed, book a demo with our team today.
