What kinds of CP information are typically measured?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One standard measurement technique is outcomes reporting. Traditionally, most tracking has been done in a very basic way, measuring simply outputs and outcomes but not actual social impact. In this type of measurement approach, CP is evaluated in simple, quantifiable terms such as dollars spent or volunteer hours contributed. The problem with this approach is that it fails to consider the impact of such donations. Impact assessments, meanwhile, look at how contributions of money or volunteer hours have positively affected the recipients of such gifts, creating benefits for communities. Tracking this information serves to validate CP initiatives in the eyes of stakeholders by demonstrating such programs’ social, environmental, and economic results as well as changes over time. Activities and output metrics and targets are the most basic set of trackable performance measures. In programs comprising short-term, one-off grants, such metrics may very well be the only trackable measures. By themselves, however, output metrics offer little indication that social change is being achieved or unintended harm caused. While formal evaluations, such as those provided by social-impact consultancy FSG, have the potential to prove impact, very few companies engage in them. Such evaluations are crucial for providing links between CP initiatives and social impacts, and yet only a small number of corporations undergo them. Subjecting a company’s CP portfolio to a strategic review can help a business categorize types of corporate giving, establish consistent internal policies, and match philanthropic spending to objectives. Even fewer firms systematically analyze the ways they can use corporate resources and expertise to leverage the impact of their cash contributions. There are some attempts to tie social goals to financial reporting, but these are often problematic because the valuation methods can be extremely subjective. ROI methods for calculating the social returns of corporate-giving programs are appealing because they use traditional business frameworks to assess the effectiveness of such program.