One significant shift [in corporate social responsibility] is the movement of giving from nonprofit websites to social platforms and employee giving platforms like Deed. This growth brings challenges, particularly around compliance, fraud prevention, and ensuring donations reach the right recipients. The regulatory environment is becoming stricter, requiring sophisticated compliance measures.
However, the challenge is the opportunity. Technology, especially AI and machine learning, can enhance compliance and streamline interactions, making giving more efficient and effective.
Monthly views on the future of responsible business
MAY/JUNE 2024
Hi there,
How do we know that financially successful companies are doing better because of their commitment to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)?
Taking a quantitative deep dive into the association between ESG performance and stock returns, the scholars argue that a close look at the "material ESG alpha" suggests that financially strong companies are better positioned to enhance their ESG strengths and rectify any weaknesses, potentially leading to superior stock performance.
For social impact leaders, this study comes as a welcome validation of workplace giving and volunteering, as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB).
What do you think? From your anecdotal experience in social impact, do you see a similar link between ESG commitments and financial returns? How do you communicate this kind of good news throughout your organization?
We want to hear your ideas. Write to vantage@joindeed.com to let us know what you think. And if you haven’t already, remember to subscribe to this monthly newsletter on the future of responsible business from Deed, and share with your colleagues.
Social impact leaders are being asked to do more with less in 2024. What does that look like with your organization? How has your technology usage changed? Have your workplace giving and volunteering programs needed to be revised?
Take the 2024 Social Impact Pulse Survey to share your thoughts on these questions and more. As a token of appreciation for spending 15 minutes on this, you'll be the first to receive the report.
Where do we look to find meaning in our working lives? "In an increasingly interconnected world, the importance of social impact in uniting employees and fostering a sense of purpose cannot be overstated," writes Nina Rauch, Head of Social Impact at insurance innovator and Deed partner Lemonade. By building a sense of community, fostering empathy and understanding, strengthening team dynamics, Rauch argues that workplace giving and volunteering can lead to greater personal fulfillment and collective impact. Read why in Fast Company.
The social impact technology RFP leader's guide to the galaxy
In the past decade, expectations for corporate social impact have skyrocketed. Companies are now leveraging advanced social impact technology platforms to drive meaningful change through workplace giving and volunteering. But with so many options out there, choosing the right software can be daunting. Our new white paper, "10 Questions to Ask in Your Social Impact Software RFP [+ Sample Answers]" offers essential questions, sample answers, and expert advice to help you find the perfect match for your organization’s needs during your upcoming request for proposals (RFP) for social impact tech. Claim your free copynow.
These five roles could make or break your SEC compliance
How do we keep up with emerging ESG regulations in the United States and Europe? One strategy may be to hire experts with specialized knowledge of the field, like 1) an ESG controller, 2) in-house sustainability counsel, 3) sustainability reporting director, 4) ESG data manager, and 5) a climate scientist. Head to GreenBizto learn how these roles could benefit your organization.
For global donations, "the challenge is the opportunity"
Deed is proud to introduce our new Vice President of Giving and Nonprofit Innovation, Michael Budwig, who brings extensive experience from his decade-long journey in the social sector and leadership roles at PayPal. With a deep background in nonprofit management, CSR, and giving, he is poised to enhance Deed’s mission of connecting companies with impactful social initiatives. In a new interview, Budwig shares his perspectives on how thorough nonprofit vetting and effective disbursement strategies can significantly boost a company's social impact. Read it here.
Human beings are not as simple as the anti-DEIB debate makes us seem
New York University's Alison Taylor is an influential social impact thought leader and recently the author of Higher Ground. In a new article coauthored with MBA student Bell Wilkins, Taylor argues that "Companies need to guard against the impulse to classify employees into rigid identity groups that compromise team cohesion. However well-intentioned, such social engineering invariably drags management into culture wars that most stakeholders want to avoid." Read why in "Rethinking DEI in an Era of Outrage."
New integration: True Impact x Deed
Deed and leading social impact reporting solution True Impact are teaming up to make it easier to measure the real-world impact of every hour and dollar contributed by employees and companies doing good.
Companies that use both Deed and True Impact will now be able to:
1. See the impact of donation dollars and volunteer hours directly in Deed dashboards.
2. Save time with automatic data capturing and merging between platforms.
3. Access impact-based insights across platforms, ensuring that CSR teams understand the impact of employee and corporate efforts.
As Deed co-founder and CEO Deevee Kashi says: “Our integration with True Impact is reducing the strain that impact data collection can have on your team and your nonprofit partners—bringing you greater value while you help your community.” Check out Deed's growing community of partnerships and integrations.
Not sure how to get started measuring an communicating your impact? Want to improve your partnerships with grantees and internal stakeholders? Our friends at ACCP and True Impact have a great new resource for you: Measuring Corporate Social Impact: Recommendations to Better Partnerships and Reporting. To introduce their new resources, ACCP and True Impact are hosting an interactive webinar to walk you through the steps to measure and maximize your impact.
Join experts Sara Ansell, Senior Social Impact Manager at True Impact, and Christina Fagan, VP of Content & Learning at ACCP, as they guide you through their new step by step toolkit in - Register today!
Celebrating our partners: CSR in action
Tesla
In their latest impact report, Tesla celebrates the inspiring work of 1,800 employees coming together to support causes they care about. Deed is humbled to play a small role in making sure all things giving and volunteering run smoothly, which you can read about on p.80-81 and 101. Check out the report.
International Rescue Committee
Another impact report from one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations, shows that in 2023 the IRC "reached more than 34.5 million people, including admitting 578,963 children for nutrition services, providing 1.6 million people affected by crisis with cash assistance, and responding to emergencies in Ukraine, Libya, Türkiye and Syria." Deed is humbled to help our partners support the IRC's life-saving work. Read the report.
lululemon
The lululemon Centre for Social Impact's "Here to Be" grant is open for applications. Funding community-led organizations around the globe that are advancing wellbeing through movement, mindfulness, and connection. Deed is grateful to support lululemon. Apply between June 3 – June 28, 2024 for up to $50,000 USD in operating support. Learn more.
Ripple
Jonathan Perri (Senior Manager, Global Social Impact) shared the stage with Deed's own Christine Tringale (VP, Enterprise Implementation and Data Strategy) at this year's Social Impact World Summit. Perri and Tringale shared their insight into how to use data to drive employee engagement in workplace giving and volunteering. Deed is proud to contribute to Ripple's thought leadership. Check out Perri's post.
Get involved
Deed’s Pride Monthemployee engagement toolkitincludes hand-crafted nonprofit recommendations, volunteer opportunities, ERG event ideas, and more. Our goal is to help you make it fun, easy, and rewarding for your employees to share their time, money, and skills with causes that matter to them.
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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