Over the past few decades, corporate social impact has grown as 70 percent of consumers want to know what brands are doing to address social and environmental issues. Corporate social impact initiatives are driven by many different pressures — from both the inside and outside — that companies must respond to. Some of these driving factors include strategic demands, risk-mitigation and regulatory requirements, investor expectations, recruiting challenges, as well as pressures from employees and customers. 

In trying to respond to these pressures, many organizations are now facing what is termed “corporate social impact sprawl,” a situation where numerous social impact initiatives run out of different departments within an organization. This could include employee engagement programs, leadership-driven community impact initiatives, corporate grants, sponsorships for local nonprofits, sustainability efforts, and programs designed to meet ESG goals. Corporate social impact sprawl occurs when a company’s initiatives expand in an uncoordinated manner, resulting in:  

• Diluted Impact: Resources are spread too thin across too many projects, reducing the effectiveness of each initiative. 
• Strategic Misalignment: Social impact activities may not align with the company’s core values, business objectives, or stakeholder expectations. 
• Operational Inefficiencies: Managing numerous disparate projects can lead to increased administrative burdens and operational complexities. 
• Stakeholder Confusion: Employees, customers, and other stakeholders may struggle to understand the company’s social impact priorities and achievements. 
• Missed Opportunities: When corporate social impact is siloed, businesses can have multiple teams and reports – CSR, DEI, ESG – that don’t factor into or build upon the success of each other. 

The natural response for businesses is to pull back what they are doing, but that may not be the best solution. To avoid these pitfalls, companies need a strategic approach to manage social impact efforts.  

Here are three strategies to effectively manage your corporate social impact initiatives:

1. Engage with Stakeholders. This is crucial for understanding their expectations and aligning CSR efforts with their needs. Encourage employees to participate in giving and volunteering CSR activities and solicit their feedback on potential initiatives. Collaborate with local communities and organizations to ensure that efforts are relevant and impactful. Regularly update stakeholders on CSR activities, progress, and outcomes to maintain trust and support.
2. Leverage technology and innovation. When social impact activities are spread across an organization, that means data is too. Companies aren’t getting a cohesive narrative of all the good the company is doing. Technology can play a pivotal role, allowing companies to analyze data to identify the most pressing social issues, measure the impact, and optimize resource allocation. Blackbaud Impact Edge is a first-of-its-kind social impact reporting and storytelling platform that combines the value of YourCause and EVERFI solutions through an AI-powered data and analytics solution. Innovative technology allows an organization to better manage and report on their CSR activities, so they can focus on the critically important work of facilitating employee engagement initiatives and engaging with key community and charity partners.
3. Monitor, evaluate, and adjust. Continuous monitoring and evaluation are essential for ensuring the effectiveness of CSR initiatives. Companies should regularly review the progress of CSR projects against set goals and metrics, seek feedback from stakeholders to understand their perspectives and areas for improvement, and be willing to adjust strategies and initiatives based on evaluation findings and emerging social issues.

While following these steps isn’t a sure-fire way to correct corporate social impact sprawl, it’s a significant step in the right direction for managing social impact initiatives and avoiding issues associated with undertaking multiple activities. For corporate social impact to be sustainable and long term, it doesn’t have to mean doing less, but being able to strategically simplify the areas that allow you to do more.