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The business case for corporate social impact

By: By Jo Barlow, Director of Enterprise Partnerships at Blackbaud

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What it takes to sustain a business over time has radically changed. No longer is it enough to deliver value to customers and turn a profit. Now, companies need to ensure their impact on people and the planet is positive if they want to attract talent, be a top consumer choice, and access funds from banks and the government. We have entered a new phase, in which purpose is crucial to business success.

As you can imagine, the kind of purpose I’m talking about is not a slogan created by the Marketing department to drive business. It’s more existential than that. Purpose answers the question, ‘what’s your company’s footprint on society and the environment?’.

Embracing the social role and environmental responsibility of your company is the only way forward, and this seems to be a view shared by many consumers, employees, and companies:

This data is just a sample of numerous surveys and research studies that demonstrate the business case for investing in a company’s purpose, ensuring it transpires through its entire business strategy and activities. This data provides a strong argument for dedicating resources and budget to CSR, ESG, and social impact programmes. These programmes are not a ‘nice to have’; they’re a strategic part of doing business in today’s world – they’re a need.

Your company may choose to support local neighbourhoods or people in need across the country; it may focus on improving the health, financial, or career outcomes of the community; it may foster technological innovation, address basic human needs, or encourage its employees to teach new skills to young people. There are myriad ways to create positive social impact. As long as it’s an authentic effort and as long as you can demonstrate it’s not just a PR exercise, consumers, the workforce, and investors will pay attention.
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Infographic data sources

Consumer data: Blackbaud survey with US consumers
Employee data: Porter Novelli. (2020). PN Purpose Tracker.
Investor data: KPMG. (2022). 2022 Market Insights Report. | KPMG. (2021). UK Mid-market PE review 2021. |

By Jo Barlow, Director of Enterprise Partnerships at Blackbaud