With nearly two decades of experience helping social-change leaders better understand and measure the difference their work makes, I knew he’d have valuable information for us.
True Impact works with many Fortune 1000 companies to measure the social impact of their philanthropy, and Farron bases his tips on years of experience.
Three minutes is never long enough for my well-respected guests to share their wisdom but here is a quick summary of what we discussed.
Tip #1:
We urge our corporate partners to include skills-based volunteering (SBV) as part of their CSR portfolio.
Most employees have already chosen to support nonprofits with causes that matter to them. So why not encourage involvement in SBV? Emphasizing the increased value the nonprofit receives when employees contribute their skill and knowledge is often the tiny nudge your employees need to get involved.
Tip #2:
Companies need to back up the reported value of their social impact programs with evidence, but that doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch.
Tap into the existing metrics and currency your human resources department is already using. Efficiently measuring the company’s impact, return on investment, and progress toward strategic goals shows real value. Making reports easy for departments to access is even better.
Tip #3:
Share with the world the difference your social impact programs make. Data from our nonprofit partners shows that skills-based volunteers provide up to five times as much monetary value as traditional volunteers.
Before we ran out of time, Farron shared two crucial questions you must ask your nonprofit partners. Listen to the entire episode to learn how to maximize the benefit of your philanthropic program.
True Impact helps companies establish measurements that demonstrate value and drive improvement in the world of social impact.
Farron Levy, Founder & CEO, True Impact
Farron Levy is an expert in social impact measurement, having helped hundreds of corporations, foundations, and nonprofits – including Allstate, Deloitte, FedEx, GE, Harvard University, Home Depot, Junior Achievement, Newman’s Own Foundation, United Way Worldwide, Verizon and Wells Fargo, among others – use practical performance metrics to prove and improve the value of their community investments.