Monthly views on the future of responsible business
MAY 2023
“Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death . . . The harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.”
Empathetic business leaders were among the first to call out the connection between loneliness and disengagement in the United States. While we saw the effects most vividly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on productivity, an alarming new advisory report from the U.S. Surgeon General shows that social isolation hurts us in ways we never thought possible—perhaps even as much as smoking “15 cigarettes per day.”
How do we stop this dangerous trend? The Financial Timesargues that “executives’ response to this newly declared epidemic must start with what it means to their own people.” In many cases that means thinking critically about how business decisions—like leveraging artificial intelligence and revoking flexible work arrangements—may impact mental health and wellness.
Committing to corporate social responsibility means doing what’s best for your organization vis-a-vis what’s best for your people and the community writ large. We encourage our community to proactively take on these difficult problems and work in a transparent, collaborative manner to find solutions that work for everyone.
By the way, you can now browse the full Vantage archive on our website. Read it here.
Microsoft is taking a bold step to address what the tech giant calls “productivity paranoia,” the widespread belief of worldwide senior managers that their employees aren’t working hard enough. By integrating artificial intelligence with tools like Word and Outlook, the company hopes to give execs some peace of mind, and get them off hard-working folks’ backs. Read how in WorkLife.
CSR + ? = ESG
Right now, the conversation around what initiatives count as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors is heating up. And according to a fascinating new white paper from standout impact measurement company True Impact, “solidifying the link between CSR activities and ESG reporting can lead to exciting opportunities for corporate social impact.” Visit their website to download “CSR and ESG: A Practical Guide to Social Impact Reporting.” (h/t Gabe Cohen)
There’s no such thing as ESG investing
In an insightful new paper, London Business School finance professor Alex Edmans argues that “considering long-term factors when valuing a company isn’t ESG investing; it’s investing.” For a fresh and compelling perspective on how to assess what makes a company strong or weak, read the provocatively titled study “The End of ESG.”
Taking the politics out of ESG
From Florida to Washington, D.C., practical investing strategy has somehow found its way into the center of the so-called culture war. Thankfully, a new bipartisan study rises above the noise, showing how, from a legal perspective, “fiduciaries must maintain their duties of loyalty and prudence in making investment decisions, which take precedence over the political back and forth . . . and their war over words.” Head to RealClear Energy for more.
How to make every day “bring your purpose to work day”
Setting blue-sky goals for your organization’s social impact is one thing. Empowering an engaged community of people to make it happen is another. Deed’s own Stav Kashi and Kathryn Pisco recently hosted “2023 barriers and opportunities to building a diverse, purpose-minded company culture,” a lively virtual panel discussion at this year’s Good Tech Fest. Read the four main takeaways on our blog.
Product spotlight
We relaunched our mobile app (!)
Global social impact programs utilize a wide array of tools to get employees excited to do good deeds. But in the digital age, none of these is more crucial for engaging employees than the dedicated volunteering and donation mobile app.
Deed recently refreshed and relaunched our industry-leading iOS & Android app, with a keen eye toward accessibility and added functionality. The latest version now includes Communities, the ability to log volunteer hours, new languages, and much more.
Read the latest on what’s new and what’s next for the Deed mobile app here.
Want to see how Deed's platform can help your organization make a wide, lasting social impact?👇
“Maximizing Social Impact: How to Leverage Donation and Volunteering Data”
WHEN
Today! May 23, 2023 @ 2PM EST
TELL ME MORE
Rallying employees to volunteer, share their skills, and donate to local nonprofits is hard work. But the social impact leaders who've grown their programs from one-off days of service to global movements actively making the world a better place rely on one thing. And that's data.
So how can we make the most of social impact data?
Join Jonathan Perri, Senior Social Impact Manager at Ripple, in conversation with Gabe Cohen, Director of Marketing at True Impact, and Christine Tringale, Head of Data Strategy at Deed, for the second installment of "Maximizing Social Impact." Our webinar series explores data-driven social impact, followed by a lively Q&A where you can get all your questions answered by our experts. We'll try to answer:
🧮 What data points are most important for social impact programs?
🧮 Now that I have my giving, volunteering, and engagement data, how should I interpret it?
🧮 What are proven strategies for incorporating the data into my team's decision-making process?
This may be the last week to support your Asian American and Pacific Islander employees during AAPI Heritage Month, but that doesn’t mean the work is over. We encourage you to take an active role in your community’s education by distributing the resources included here so that, as a whole, your organization can develop a better understanding of the AAPI experience.
Our "Cause of the Month: AAPI Heritage Month" toolkit includes:
Volunteering and giving opportunities in the U.S. and around the world.
In-depth look at specific cause areas, including: civil rights, women and girls, and LGBTQIA+.
A calendar of awareness days in May.
Employee and employee resource group (ERG) engagement ideas, as well as a walkthrough of how to craft a social impact campaign around AAPI Heritage Month.
Recommendations of worthwhile books, podcasts, and films on issues of importance to the AAPI community.
Click on the image below to preview the toolkit and learn how to get full access. 👇
Mental Health Awareness Month
How can we authentically prioritize mental health in the workplace?
There are many ways for individual employees to safeguard their mental health in the workplace through sensible boundaries, empathetic communication, and more. But it's up to managers and corporate social responsibility leaders (CSR) to guide our organizations toward more conscientious and socially sustainable practices in our offices and our communities.
With our mental health awareness engagement guide, Deed urges our community to foster mental health and wellbeing in the workplace—for the good of one and all.
Click on the image below to preview the engagement guide and learn how to get full access. 👇
Here are some nonprofits you can support right now on Deed:
New to the social impact space? We know how challenging it can be to get a grasp of the who, what, when, where, and how of doing good deeds (even though we all know the why). Here are a few explainers:
Thank you for reading Vantage. We want this monthly newsletter to be of real value to everyone working to make a real social impact. If there’s a topic you’d like to learn more about, or if there’s someone pushing the conversation forward whose work deserves more attention, we’d love to hear about it. Drop us a note: vantage [@] joindeed [dot] com.
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ICYMI, you can now browse the full Vantage archive on our website.
