Companies are working hard to make a positive impact in their communities and in the world, but what’s the best way to measure it? Environmental responsibility, anti-racism work, community health and disaster philanthropy are now common ways corporate America gives back. To make the most of their work, companies can’t sit back and point to their contributions, they need to show their colleagues and communities the results of their work in measurable ways. For many, collecting data that describes their impact and translating that into results is an unwieldy task.

Here’s how one company manages it: Last year, CVS Health released its 13th-annual report on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which tracks the progress of Transform Health 2030, a plan for how the company will spend the next 10 years putting resources toward building “healthy people, healthy business, healthy community and a healthy planet.”

The strategy, says the company’s head of CSR, Eileen Howard Boone, “reflects our commitment to bringing transformative change to health care access and delivery, while meeting and exceeding the needs of our patients, members, customers, clients, colleagues, supply chain and environment.”

Though CVS has been in the CSR game for more than a decade, alongside companies like PepsiCo and Subaru, businesses of all sizes and persuasions are joining the push. According to a survey conducted by Accelerist, a company that creates software to help companies build, execute and report on CSR work, 80% of companies plan to invest more resources in social impact collection and reporting in 2022 than they did last year.

Not only do companies invest in CSR work for altruistic reasons, initiatives like these can help stabilize companies during PR crises or financial struggles. “If there’s a predominant CSR initiative, consumers actually will forgive some pitfalls or hiccups, and the company might be able to retain customers in that way,” said Brittany Hill, Accelerist’s CEO and co-founder.

In a From Day One webinar, Hill gave a presentation on streamlining the CSR reporting process, backed by data from the Accelerist survey about the most common reporting obstacles and how to overcome them.

Common Roadblocks to Data Collection and Reporting

Hill cited lack of executive sponsorship as a primary hindrance. According to the Accelerist survey, 65% of respondents say leadership plays a big role in CSR reporting, but 32% say leadership is only a little bit involved. Thirty-one percent of respondents say this lack of sponsorship is the top challenge to successful CSR reporting. To pull more top executives into the work, Hill recommended holding recurring meetings with leadership to build rapport and trust. CSR isn’t just a departmental concern, but a company-wide declaration of purpose.

The best way to get their attention, Hill said, is to tie CSR reporting to your bottom line with this kind of appeal: “We have to do it now or it’s going to cost us not to. It’s going to start costing us money, costing us employees, and costing us customers if we don’t pay attention to this and formalize our approach right now.”

Winning over leadership can make a dent in another common problem: lack of resources. Forty-three percent of respondents in the survey said they don’t have enough worker bandwidth to get the work done and just as many say they don’t have the right tools; 35% say they don’t have an official CSR team.

While some companies outsource the data collection and reporting, others may find it necessary to hire an individual or team dedicated to this, which makes it all the more important to derive support from the top, where the money is dispensed.

How to Streamline the CSR Reporting Process

First, Hill recommended that companies regularly collect and report on their goals. “We know that it takes a lot of time reporting and collecting data, and sometimes that’s a barrier,” she said. It takes about two weeks to collect the information, and when you add reporting, it can take a month altogether. Keeping up with data collection can save time in the long run.

Second, those in charge of reporting should proactively meet with leadership to make sure everyone is in agreement and willing to put the proper infrastructure in place to support CSR goals.

And to lighten the workload, those in charge of producing the report can invite other departments to join the effort by showing them how their contributions add up to greater social impact. A variety of teams can be pulled in, including DEI, HR, marketing, and sales.

So, What Should You Report On?

Hill said the question she gets most often is what should be measured. Some clients come to Accelerist wanting to collect and report on as many as 130 data points, typically at the insistence of investors. That’s too many, she said. So, what are the most important and impactful key performance indicators?

According to the results of the survey, companies most often report on:

•Overall spend on impact (66%)
•Workforce engagement in ESG goals (56%)
•ESG goals and targets (54%)
•Consumer engagement and loyalty (49%)
•Brand reputation (48%)
•Consumer loyalty (42%)
•Employee loyalty (42%)

Other indicators worth reporting are total giving, employee giving, types of funds raised, volunteer hours, geographical impact, causes supported, and whether your vendors and/or family of brands are involved. Media reach, brand perception, and company reputation can also be measured.

Sharing Your Results

“Reporting and collection is only half the story,” Hill said. “Sharing the results is a huge component of building trust, building loyalty.” If you’re going to go through the trouble of creating a CSR report, share it widely, though the format and messaging may be different depending on the audience.

While CSR reports are most often put in front of company leadership, and sometimes employees, Hill said she’s been disappointed to find that only a quarter of executives share their CSR reports with customers. “This is a huge missed opportunity in terms of storytelling, in terms of building customer loyalty and trust,” she said. “If that’s a metric that they’re measuring and holding themselves accountable for, that has a direct correlation to bottom-line impact, ​​why are we not telling that story? It doesn’t just mean issuing an annual impact report, but also weaving that into marketing and ad campaigns.”

This is especially relevant if you ask your customers to join in your efforts. If customers get involved, sharing your results publicly is an opportunity to show the impact they made.

Editor's Note: From Day One thanks our partner, Accelerist, in supporting this sponsor spotlight. You can read more about the company here.

Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a freelance reporter based in Richmond, VA, who writes about workplace culture and policies, hiring, DEI, and issues faced by women. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Fast Company, and Food Technology, among others, and has been syndicated by MSN and The Motley Fool.