Delivering ROI Using a Triple Bottom Line Approach

We all understand that our sponsorship investments need to deliver ROI, which can be measured in many ways. It might be through employee engagement or recruitment. It might be about sales or traffic to a website, or to a bricks and mortar store. It may be about community recognition. All of these can be measured and all come back to affect the actual bottom line of profitability.?

The question today is: “What is profitability?” Over the past decade, we have seen the growth of “social enterprises”—businesses that operate in the for-profit sector, but are owned and operated by non-profits or charities. It is about thinking differently. Where I live in Nanaimo, BC on the traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples, there are several charities and non-profits running restaurants, bakeries and such that generate profits which go back to the organization. Many organizations such as hospital auxiliaries, churches, or even The Salvation Army operate thrift stores where the profits go back to these worthy causes. This is becoming more prevalent in our landscape. In fact, for several years, we have been working with the United Way of Calgary in the development of private enterprises that feed revenue back to the charity!?

But what about for-profit corporations? How are they changing? Many, like Maple Leaf Foods and others have switched to a double or triple bottom line. This is a shift from the single bottom line where profitability and shareholder return were the sole measures of success. It was based simply on “How much cash profit did we make?” With double and triple bottom line evaluations, this has changed.?

For instance, with a double bottom line, the company may look at and ensure there is a high rate of return for the shareholder from a cash perspective, but perhaps the second bottom line is focused on being environmentally sound. The company may be committing to becoming greener and there are benchmarks to achieve and maintain. And that is as important (not close to or secondarily important), but truly as important. Failure to make the environmental goals is as bad as not reaching profitability expectations.?

Some companies may include employee or customer satisfaction (Patagonia) as part of the measuring stick for profitability or bottom line. With a triple bottom line, it might be cash profitability (the shareholders, be they public or private, who need to get a return on their investment from a pecuniary perspective) as well as measurement of employee satisfaction and impacting homelessness. The latter two are not just part of the vision statement—they are a measure of overall profitability. If “we as a company” did not move the bar against homelessness by X factor this year, we did not make our bottom line and the cash profitability will need to be affected to change that!?

Truly visionary organizations are looking at double and triple bottom lines, and most importantly, they are succeeding. Many are integrating their sponsorship programs into this bottom-line approach, because they can impact the greater audience through sponsorship marketing programs. Those programs ensure profitability on all three bottom lines!??

If you are interested in learning more about triple bottom lines and their ground-breaking sponsorship programs, purchase your ticket today to the WSC – Alberta Forum. At this event, you will engage with and learn from leaders who see the new world and are making it happen!