How to design an effective social impact programme for your company
Why do we even need a social impact programme?
In recent years we’ve seen a profound shift in what people want from?the companies they use, with lower environmental impact, ethical behaviour and data security rushing up the agenda.?
The upshot: if companies don’t stack up under this increased scrutiny, customers will walk away in their thousands. Just look at the Volkswagen 'Dieselgate’ scandal that saw billions of dollars wiped off its market value.?
All too often leaders equate sustainability with a hit to the bottom line. But research from Accenture has shown a positive correlation between businesses that put social impact at their heart, and profitability.?
Staff want to feel like their work has meaning. According to a Deloitte survey, 49% of Gen Z factor their values into the work they choose. This plays into recruiting the best talent.
It can be an exciting but daunting prospect if you've been tasked with setting up or managing a social impact programme for your company. Like any sector, the world of charity is complex and takes some navigating. Luckily, our team at Raise Your Hands have years of experience fostering incredible relationships between companies and charities.
We hope that some of the ideas and best practices outlined below stand you in good stead.
The challenge
Many companies launch social impact programmes with the best intentions but the result falls flat.
Social impact can sit in a silo with staff forced to make a business case for the budget. Without proper buy-in internally, the project is seen as a distraction from “real work” and ultimately loses momentum.
So how best to avoid these pitfalls?
How do you set up a programme that gets staff at all levels fired up, that is well-communicated to key stakeholders and that ultimately, has real-world impact?
1. Align your social impact with commercial goals
Let’s start with the gold standard.
Bottom line: the closer you can intertwine your social impact goals with your commercial objectives, the more successful you will be.
Patagonia has integrated its sustainability mission fully into its products and offerings, which in turn has positively impacted its bottom line. Or look at CISCO, where 85% of staff worldwide take part in social impact work each year, which they say is a huge factor for why they’re ranked #1 best place to work in over 16 countries.
On a practical level, this might mean that instead of sitting in a team alone, your social impact lead reports to your profit-making arm - either CEO or sales/product. They work together to develop products that benefit both.
For many companies, this level of alignment might not be realistic.
Instead, what about designing a social impact initiative that uses your existing products and services for positive change, just like CISCO? Stakeholders see a clear link with the project, your services and the brand, which reinforces positive perceptions.
2. Plan strategically?
Too often social impact is farmed out to a committee of willing volunteers as an afterthought.
Be as meticulous in your planning as with any other part of your business, including your commercial strategy:
3. Take a good look in the mirror
Regulators and consumers are becoming more savvy to companies greenwashing i.e. making misleading claims around sustainability to enhance profit.
What is intended as a push to get customers on board, can end up backfiring with reputational and even legal consequences.
It’s worth spending time reviewing things like supply chains, and pushing for more transparency.
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Most of all, be honest about your efforts. If there are still things you’re ironing out, say so. Customers will appreciate your honesty.
4. Ask what your organisation really wants?
Early in the process, have an open and frank discussion about what you as an organisation, and what senior management, want from any social impact programme.
As well as impact, how important are other factors like employee engagement, or PR?
It’s not cynical to look at the benefits a community partnership might bring; in terms of business leads, for example. Again, the closer aligned a programme is to commercial objectives, the more likely it is to succeed.
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5. Don’t go it alone - look for great partners
You don’t need to design a delivery programme from the ground up. In fact, in most cases, we’d advise against it.
Once you’ve decided on a cause, look for community organisations or non-profits already working in this area. They’ll have years of experience, and be passionate and knowledgeable. They’ll bring ideas and help design a programme that meets your objectives and has a real impact on the ground.
We've got firsthand experience of this. Read how Gilette partnered with Raise Your Hands alumnus Football Beyond Borders, supporting young people to become the best version of themselves.
6. What can you offer non-profits?
It’s worth bearing in mind that most charities don’t have an endless supply of walls that need painting, or other menial tasks that are easy to farm out!?
Take the time to consider what you might be able to offer the charity as a complement to their current expertise. Although sometimes that might be bodies on the ground helping out with manual skills, more often it might be specific skill-sharing to help them build capacity, for example in marketing or IT. Volunteer specialists who come in to provide consultancy advice and actionable plans to solve real business problems can be invaluable.
Also, many charities now offer team-building days for companies, giving you the option to strengthen your teams through social impact. Be aware that any time hosting external teams is time not directly helping beneficiaries on the front line, so expect to donate in return.
Remember that if you truly want to make a difference, fundraising is always the most useful thing you can do for a charity.
7. Plan your communications
Engage your communications teams at all levels - internal comms to help your staff get the most out of social impact opportunities, HR to sell your programmes to prospective young talent, and marketing and PR people to communicate all the great work you're doing to the public.
The more looped-in they are, the better.
Also, consider whether there’s a CEO or leader in your organisation who can become a figurehead and voice for the cause. An individual seen to be taking a stance can help promote your work to the public, for example on their social media channels, and it can galvanise staff support, too.
8. Work with experts!
Sometimes running a social impact programme in-house just isn’t a practical solution. You might be short on resources, time or expertise. Or all three.
Working with an external partner like Raise Your Hands can offer an attractive alternative.
Raise Your Hands works with a platform of exceptional small charities. We carry out due diligence, then work with company partners to find mutually beneficial overlaps and help them meet their social impact goals.
If you would like to discuss your objectives further, please email Madelaine Jones at [email protected]
Subscribe to this newsletter and follow us for more tips on how to improve your social impact programme.