You have 10 minutes to convince the C-suite to invest in or continue to support your Social Impact program. What do you say? This high-stakes scenario is common for corporate Social Impact practitioners. A well-crafted, strategically aligned business case can make or break your program’s future. More importantly, it can determine whether your company will assume meaningful responsibility to your communities, provide purpose-driven experiences for your employees, and drive sustainable business success.
Let’s explore how to create a persuasive business case that aligns your Social Impact initiatives with key business objectives and corporate strategy so that it’s easy for senior leaders to say “yes.”
Hint: Want to dive deeper? Social REV members can find the 46-page guidebook Build Sustained Buy-In for Corporate Social Impact Programs on Backstage.
Building the Case for Social Impact: Presentation Template
Use this deck to articulate how employee volunteering and giving programs can drive engagement. Build sustained buy-in from senior leaders with research-backed insights connecting social impact initiatives to employee engagement; a comparison of baseline vs. Transformative Volunteering approaches; and examples of how top companies leverage social impact for engagement success.
Building the Business Case for Social Impact Programs
Practitioners must become experts in understanding the role of Social Impact within their company’s strategy – in other words, the business value of Social Impact. Social Impact isn’t just about doing good—it’s about creating shared value for your company, your employees, and your communities. When done right, it can drive innovation, attract top talent, and build brand loyalty in ways that traditional business strategies simply can’t match. Studies have shown that 87% of employees consider workplace volunteer opportunities when deciding to stay with their employer, and employees who volunteer with their company are 30% more likely to report satisfaction with their professional growth and development. On the customer side, we also know that consumers prefer to buy from brands with values that align with their own.
However, the reality is that corporate Social Impact departments are often perceived by senior leaders as nice-to-haves rather than business imperatives, and cost centers rather than value-adds.
It’s up to corporate Social Impact practitioners to articulate the value of their programs in terms of business outcomes, and to continually build their business case to align with business priorities.
Action step:
For earlier-stage programs: Review your company’s mission, values, and strategic priorities. Identify areas where Social Impact programs support or could support these goals.
For more mature programs: Conduct an analysis of how your existing Social Impact initiatives align with corporate strategy. Identify gaps and opportunities for deeper integration.
What Matters to Senior Leaders: Objectives and Indicators
To build a compelling case, you need to speak the language of your senior leaders. Where alignment between company priorities and Social Impact programs seems clear to you, it may not be so obvious to leaders with different perspectives and metrics for success. Practitioners should understand leadership’s objectives and the indicators they use to measure success. Whether it’s brand reputation, company culture, employee engagement, or talent development, your Social Impact initiatives can drive measurable results that matter to the C-suite.
Hint: Social REV members, refer to Section 2, Objectives and Indicators, of the guidebook for examples of relevant metrics for each business objective area, including activities, lead and lag indicators, and example materials to demonstrate proof.
Action step:
For earlier-stage programs: Create a table linking each of your Social Impact initiatives to specific business goals. Include metrics that demonstrate this connection.
For more mature programs: Complete or develop a matrix aligning your Social Impact initiatives with corporate strategic priorities. Identify relevant KPIs for each initiative. Then, conduct a gap analysis to identify areas where your initiatives could better support business goals.
Secure Buy-In and Investment: Stakeholdering Guidance
Building strong relationships with key stakeholders is essential for garnering support and buy-in for Social Impact programs. Remember, you’re not just seeking approval—you’re building a coalition of supporters who understand the value of Social Impact and can champion it throughout the organization.
Often, this means providing meaningful ways for stakeholders to experience employee volunteering and giving – not at a surface, feel-good level, but as a Transformative Volunteering experience. This is an incredible opportunity to “show” vs. “tell” your stakeholders why your programs matter to employees, communities, and the company.
Other times, building buy-in may mean keeping some stakeholders apprised with concise, high-level updates, and still others with regular, detailed touchpoints.
How do you decide on your approach? Map stakeholders according to their level of influence in the company on one axis and their level of interest in your programs on the other axis.
- Stakeholders with high influence and high interest are your key allies.
- Stakeholders with high influence and low interest are important to keep satisfied.
- Those with low influence and high interest can be passionate champions.
- And those with low influence and low interest are to be monitored for trends that will inform your approach.
Hint: Social REV members, use the Stakeholder Maps in Section 3 of the guidebook for examples of action steps for each category of stakeholder, according to each business objective area.
Action step:
For earlier-stage programs: Create a brief stakeholder profile for each key decision-maker, listing their primary concerns and how your Social Impact initiatives address them. Use the Stakeholder Map Framework to help identify and categorize stakeholders and your approach to engaging them.
For more mature programs: Conduct a stakeholder analysis using the Stakeholder Map Framework. Identify any changes or additions to your stakeholder groups and categorizations. Using your company’s top priority business objectives to guide you, plan engagement tactics appropriate for each category of stakeholder.
Communicate Impact and Success: Messaging Guidance
Effective communication is more than reporting impressive numbers. It’s also telling compelling stories that tie together your stakeholder’s priorities, corporate Social Impact activities, and research-backed proof points that demonstrate that your activities are most likely to accomplish their priorities.
Easier said than done. If you’ve ever wished you had Google Translate for getting your message across effectively to the executive teams, start with your audience’s “What’s in it for me?” Then, get ahead of objections using internal and external data that clearly speaks to their priorities. Lastly, translate your message using your stakeholder’s language in terms of concepts and terminology to create a concise, compelling narrative that connects Social Impact activities to their top-priority goals.
Hint: Social REV members, use the Messaging Guidance in Section 4 of the guidebook to help tailor your communications to different stakeholders. Find examples of translated messaging for each business objective area.
Action step:
For earlier-stage programs: Create a communication plan outlining key messages, data points, and stories for each stakeholder group. Include a timeline for regular updates and check-ins.
For more mature programs: Develop your Social Impact communication strategy to include the above plus equip internal ambassadors to effectively communicate the value of Social Impact initiatives.
Align Social Impact Initiatives with Broader Company Goals: Benchmarking Guidance
Benchmarking can identify best practices, innovative approaches, and areas for improvement in your programs. When senior leaders ask, “What are other companies doing, and how do we compare?” practitioners can use benchmarking data to provide informed answers and strategic recommendations.
Action step:
For earlier-stage programs: Compile a “data dashboard” with your top 5-7 KPIs. Include current performance, targets, and relevant benchmarks.
Hint: Social REV members, use the Indicators listed in Section 2 of the guidebook to ensure you’re tracking metrics that matter to your business. Use the Benchmarking Guidance in Section 5 of the guidebook to help identify the most relevant benchmarks.
For more mature programs: Revisit previous benchmarking efforts and update as needed. This may include retaining a third party to facilitate a deep, customized study. Regardless, practitioner-led benchmarking is beneficial to your business case!
Hint: Social REV members, use the Benchmarking Guidance in Section 5 of the guidebook to help identify industry-leading practices and set ambitious targets for your programs.
Bringing It All Together: Your Presentation
Now that you’ve done the groundwork, it’s time to structure your presentation. Begin by outlining:
- The current situation and your proposed Social Impact initiatives.
- Why these initiatives matter to the business, using both external and internal data aligned to top-priority business objectives
- Your specific ask (or progress update if you’re not pitching for further investment) and next steps
Lead the second point with an attention-grabbing statistic or story that illustrates the power of Social Impact programs done well. Throughout your presentation, use visuals to make your data engaging and remember to address potential objections and misconceptions proactively.
If you’ve packed external and internal data in alignment with business priorities and with proof that the approach you take (e.g., Transformative Volunteering) leads to sustained, deeply ingrained results, you just may have convinced senior leaders to back your programs. Maybe even in under ten minutes.
Action step:
For all programs: Create an outline of your presentation using the above outline framework. Fill in key points and data for each section.
Hint: Social REV members, refer to the Presentation Templates in the Appendix of the guidebook for examples of effective messaging and templated slides you can adjust as needed.
Strong corporate Social Impact programs provide employees the chance to realize their purpose and meaning at work. They ensure that business success is directly tied to the wellbeing of communities.
Strong Social Impact programs are also nimble. Your business case will evolve as your program and company strategy change. This requires practitioners to regularly review alignment and adjust your approach.
As you move forward with this work, make full use of the resources available to you, whether that’s the tools, templates, and guidance you receive as a Social REV member, camaraderie and idea-sharing in your relationships with colleagues in Social Impact, resources created and curated in the field, or a combination. Practitioners just starting out as well as those leading mature Social Impact programs will continue to find ways to strengthen strategic alignment and increase impact.
By understanding your audience and company strategy, connecting to business goals, using data effectively, and communicating strategic value, you’ll build a strong case for investment in your initiatives. This is the groundwork for a more purpose-driven, engaging, socially responsible, and ultimately successful organization. And you can tell the C-suite we said so.
