As a social impact leader, you probably spend plenty of time working to engage employees in giving, volunteering, and other initiatives. As the calendar year or your campaigns come to a close, though, you might ask yourself how you can demonstrate the value of all that work. Enter: social impact reporting. With the right approach, you can use social impact reports to not only demonstrate value but also articulate goals for the future.
Your social impact data should tell a compelling story. It should also help you generate insights that you can apply to future social impact initiatives. While these goals are clear, what’s often less straightforward is what the “chapters” of that story should look like.
Social impact reporting allows you to measure your impact while simultaneously identifying the tangible outcomes of your programs. Separating impact from outcomes enables you to not only celebrate your successes but also discover opportunities for improvement.
So, how do you craft a social impact narrative that impresses key stakeholders and helps you measure the success of your programs?
Finish your campaign or year strong with an enhanced impact measurement approach that helps you demonstrate the value of your efforts to any audience. Here are some tips for crafting a social impact report that accurately reflects your work and supports the business case for corporate social responsibility activities.
If you’re a social impact leader, you’re probably no stranger to feeling accountable to nearly everyone in your organization. After all, part of your job is to ensure everyone can work together to make the world a better place while simultaneously achieving business goals.
That means that when it comes to learning how to measure social impact, you’ll want to remember that you have a wide range of stakeholders to appeal to. From employees to executive teams to customers and investors, there are lots of individual parties you’ll want your report to resonate with.
As you craft a corporate social impact report and narrative, think about how you’ll communicate your message to different stakeholders. Each will require a unique, tailored approach.
Employees, for example, want to see their workplace invest in causes they care about. They also want to see how their individual contributions fit into the bigger picture. Executives, on the other hand, will be more focused on clear ROI metrics and strategic insights that will inform their decision-making.
As you work to identify and communicate with different audiences – each with different interests and priorities – it’s smart to craft reports specific to each. Here are some recommendations to keep in mind for each type of key stakeholder:
The skeleton of your social impact report should be a list of key metrics. You can include both quantitative and qualitative metrics to demonstrate the impact of your CSR programs.
Some quantitative metrics to consider include:
Meanwhile, qualitative metrics to consider include, but are not limited to:
Having the right strategy for social impact reporting is only half the battle. With the right tools at your side, you can ensure your social impact reports serve as catalysts for positive change within your community.
Choose a platform that supports your goals but also makes it simple to visualize and report on performance data. An enterprise social impact platform like Groundswell makes it easy, fun, and stress-free to engage your teams in your programs.
Give all of your initiatives and activities one home to simplify the process of creating effective social impact reports.
If you’re using a software tool to aid you in reporting, consider creating social impact dashboards designed to help you visualize progress. Skip the need for manual data pulls every time you need to check in on your program – with visualizations, you can see everything you need at a glance.
Create visual tools like progress bars, trend lines, pie charts, and heat maps to bring figures for volunteer hours, giving amounts, and more to life. Customize your dashboard view to track specific details, like individual employee contributions, without searching through endless menus.
With clear visualizations, you can support the “call to action” that your social impact report creates. They also serve you well as you work to craft a compelling social impact story.
Having great data that helps you visualize and understand the work you’ve done is one thing – but ensuring that data helps you actually plan for the future is another.
Social impact data can support short-term decision-making – by helping you respond to urgent needs in your program, for example – but its true value rests in the insights it provides for the future.
Be sure to incorporate any insights you discover during the social impact reporting process into your goals for future campaigns. Use your data to set realistic expectations, identify trends, and create air-tight plans for new initiatives that help you build on what you’ve already achieved.
Once you’ve decided what to include in your report, take a moment to think about how you’ll include it. The format you choose for your social impact report matters. It’s important to choose a channel for sharing that makes sense for your goals.
Interactive dashboards like those discussed above are one option. These help you export data quickly and support quick decision-making, but they’re not as easy to share with multiple audiences.
PDF reports are another popular choice, as they’re easy to distribute, archive, and present. They also tend to be more detailed and comprehensive than dashboards, giving you a truly well-painted picture of your impact.
Social media posts or snippets are another alternative, especially if you’re looking to leverage your social impact report as a tool for brand awareness. Social media is a great place to highlight key achievements and drive up engagement between employees, audiences, and your organization.
No matter what your report contains and how you choose to share it, you’ll need an effective strategy that relies on the right data. Smart social impact reporting is key for demonstrating the value of CSR initiatives and engaging your stakeholders, but it also gives you a look at all the good that your actions can achieve.
Create compelling social impact narratives and drive continuous support for your CSR programs with a tool like Groundswell. With instant distribution timelines, low fees, and a mobile-facing platform, Groundswell makes it simple to create, edit, and report on your social impact initiatives.
Want to learn how to do more with your social impact data? Book a demo to see how our platform helps streamline the reporting process.
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