Category Archives: Impact

What a waste of business resource!

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Corporations spend billions eveHard-Outcomes-or-Hollow-Promises-2ry year on causes and in communities around the world. But a shocking new survey shows they actually know little about the difference it makes.

Nowadays everyone agrees that spending shareholder funds in scattergun philanthropy doesn’t make sense: it’s not good for people in need, nor for companies trying to justify and sustain a community investment (CCI) programme.

So Corporate Citizenship asked corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioners how they set objectives and whether they measure outcomes. Over 130 practitioners from around the world replied. A massive three quarters said they aspire to achieve long-term Continue reading →

The numbers speak for themselves

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Where does good decision-making in business come from? Let’s look at the role of data, seek inspiration from Plato, and consider if companies are potentially wasting billions in their community investment.

Plato

The power of numbers is embedded in modern management…. The numbers speak for themselves. What’s the bottom line? If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. We use phrases like these all the time, albeit often with a heavy heart.

Comments from my colleagues in this month’s CCBriefing help us come to terms with this. Mary Ellen Smith calls for quality in KPIs, while Charlie Ashford says radical transparency is both inevitable and an opportunity for companies. I’d add my own plea for us to rediscover the power of balanced scorecards. First popularised in 1992 by Robert Kaplanand David Norton at Harvard Business School, they broaden the focus from historic profit to non-financial and forward-looking aspects. Crucially, they harness the numbers into a decision-making format. Continue reading →

Invest or give – what’s the difference?

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Let’s take a trip down memory lane and ask whether loans or grants are the right approach to getting results for the community. image3

Last week, the UK social investment bank Big Society Capital published its lending numbers for 2015. The amount going in loans to UK charities and social enterprises is now ramping up fast: £68 million of the Bank’s own money, with twice as much again from co-funders, nearly £200 million in total.

Big Society Capital (BSC) has two aims: supporting finance intermediaries who serve the social investment market, and raising awareness of the whole sector. Its funds come from an arm-up-the-back grab by government on dormant bank accounts – up to £400 million, with a further £200 million directly from the UK’s big four banks over five years. Surpluses generated when loans are repaid mean BSC should become financially sustainable over the long term. Continue reading →