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Technology Paves the Way in Defining and Measuring the Impact of Corporate Giving

In recent years, employees, consumers and investors have become increasingly vocal about their expectations of the retail companies they work for, purchase from and invest in. This critical eye has focused closely on how these companies interact with the outside world: their engagement with popular environmental and social causes, the impact of their products or services on the world at large, and who or what they allow themselves to be associated with.

The events of the last 18 months, and our experiences on a global scale as a result of this, have further proven how critically important it is to have embedded social responsibility programs — to both consumers and stakeholders alike. For example, a 2020 Nielsen study found that 72% of shoppers were positively influenced by brands helping consumers affected by COVID-19. The urgency of the pandemic and social movements that rose to the mainstream last year have put corporate social responsibility even more squarely in the spotlight.

While the corporate focus on philanthropy and giving is one that spans decades, the increased visibility has put these programs under a microscope, as consumers demand greater transparency from the companies they purchase from. These rising expectations, as well as our increased exposure to issues happening around the world, have prompted brands to up-level their corporate giving as a way to help on a larger scale. With that increased action comes a key question — are these efforts driving any kind of impact?

In answer to this, more and more retailers are leveraging CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) platforms as a means of measuring the impact of their philanthropic efforts, while also finding ways to be more efficient, streamlined and flexible with these initiatives. At their best, CSR programs connect company and employee values with charitable organizations in order to build goodwill in the communities corporations serve. Grounding philanthropic work within the core values and strategy of an organization promotes longevity.

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CSR technology helps retailers to execute their charitable initiatives with robust, flexible, scalable solutions that allow for the agile deployment of these programs. For example, last year The Levi Strauss Foundation dedicated $3M to two topical issues as part of its annual charitable giving: COVID-19 relief and voter access. The funds were split among numerous charitable, community-based partners across the country, which traditionally requires more administrative overhead to distribute.

By working within a tailored, streamlined CSR platform, LSF was able to maximize the amount of money given to these partners — reducing the administrative overhead costs to just 3% of the allocated fund — and establishing a giving pathway that allowed it to provide support throughout the pandemic, where necessary.

This is where the necessary agility and scalability of CSR tech comes in handy. The urgency of the pandemic and its associated chilling effects on voter access in the 2020 election necessitated that the organization develop a streamlined communication platform that expedited disbursements, in order to assure that help was reaching the vulnerable when they need it most. LSF needed a disbursement platform that would allow it to dedicate the lion’s share of its philanthropic funds quickly and cost-effectively to this cause. With most of the administrative overhead costs removed, the majority of the funds are available to the partners and teams that need it and will benefit the most from it. A perfect recipe for measurable impact.

In addition to helping retailers execute these programs and create impact externally, CSR tech can help brands cultivate a culture of giving within the workplace, empowering and rewarding employees for being active participants in aiding their companies in creating impact through social responsibility. Matching employee donations, creating company-wide volunteer days (or incentivizing individual volunteerism), and considering employee sentiments and interest when determining donation recipients all help to foster an organizational culture of giving.

Another aspect of establishing and maintaining a culture of giving requires that leadership be cognizant of and analyze the impact of giving efforts. Maintaining open lines of communication with recipients, listening to their feedback and the feedback of employees, and incorporating that feedback accordingly keeps leaders ahead of the curve.

Comprehensive reporting allows retailers to track exactly how specific investments are benefiting chosen causes. It also fosters organizational transparency, keeping everyone looped in not only on current initiatives and long-term objectives but also the scale of the impact their donations are making. 

CSR is more than just a one-time commitment to a cause, and the most effective programs require full company buy-in and reliable, scalable CSR technology to make them work. As public interest increases around how companies support employees and consumers by reinvesting profits in philanthropic efforts important to their stakeholders, CSR technology has become a critical piece in the foundation of a more successful and impactful giving ecosystem.


Mark Layden is CEO of CyberGrants. He has successful executive leadership tenures with some of the world’s top technology brands, such as SAP, Applied Systems and FICO, including international stints in Germany and France. Layden joined CyberGrants in 2015 and has spearheaded tremendous growth in company revenue, clients, and product development. He is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University where he played football and acquired an Economics degree. Layden lives in Chicago with his wife and four kids and commutes to Boston. Weekends he’s a White Sox fan and weekdays it’s the Red Sox.

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