What we think

Measuring the business value of corporate social impact

By Rhonda Evans, and Tony Siesfeld, July 2020

How much is corporate social impact worth? Today, improved measurement techniques and data analytics can enable companies to better understand the business value of their social impact efforts, enabling them to better allocate resources and make strategic decisions.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are stepping up with massive contributions in the name of public health and well-being. For most of these companies, responding to the current crisis is simply a moral imperative. But once the next normal is reached on the other end of the crisis, many companies will once again be forced to articulate the business value of corporate social impact.

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Your organization’s COVID-19 emergency plan is in place. What’s next?

By Gabriel Kasper and Justin Marcoux, with Kerri Folmer, Joanna Burleson, Rhonda Evans, Jennifer Holk, Sarah Brayton, Apoorva Kanneganti, Leah Jordan Haynesworth, and Danielle Jordan DeVera.

July 2020

Many social sector organizations are now at a critical moment. They’ve responded to the initial wave of the COVID-19 crisis, providing emergency relief, adapting to new working environments, and making tough decisions on near-term priorities. As leaders begin to pressure test and potentially change their intermediate- and longer- term strategies, many find themselves swamped by having to make organization-defining choices during a time of such intense uncertainty.

To help add some scaffolding to those choices, the Monitor Institute by Deloitte interviewed over 75 social sector leaders during April and May 2020 to understand what the future might hold for philanthropic funders and operating nonprofits.

This report, launched in cooperation with New Profit, the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and United Philanthropy Forum, explores four provocative scenarios of what the future could look like depending on the severity of the crisis and whether we come together as a nation—or come apart. Using these scenarios as a backdrop, the report outlines advice on how organizations can prepare for the future despite significant uncertainty.

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Responding to COVID-19: Resources for Nonprofits

Last Updated: May 28, 2020

Curated by Amanda Olsen, Apoorva Kanneganti, Tej Mehta, Michelle Hammer, Abby Southam, Vritti Sethi, Archana Choudhary, Rhushi Bhadkamkar

Monitor Institute by Deloitte created this document to compile and share relevant resources with our nonprofit clients as they manage through the COVID-19 crisis. In addition to general information about nonprofits and their operating environment, it also includes deep dives into the Education and Workforce Development sectors, because many of our clients work in these spaces. The compilation will be updated regularly as changes warrant to reflect latest information.

The guide was produced with three different audiences in mind:

• Nonprofit Leaders looking for relevant information and resources to more effectively manage the impacts of COVID-19 (coronavirus) for their types of organizations
• Philanthropic Funders looking to support their grantees throughout and after the crisis
• Nonprofit Board Members looking to understand ways to guide the organizations they advise

There are a growing number of useful resources available online; this is a selection that may be useful for these audiences. We have included examples or links to a variety of initiatives and organizations throughout this document; however, these are for informational purposes and inclusion of these examples does not imply endorsement, nor does exclusion imply the opposite. This is not an exhaustive list.

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Bridging the manufacturing and construction skills gap: Supporting worker success in the age of automation

By Tracie Neuhaus and Joe Speicher (Autodesk Foundation), June 2019

Across the United States, millions of people are working but still struggling to get ahead. At the same time, employers are trying to fill millions of job openings, but many are struggling to find workers with the right skills. This is the result of a fundamental mismatch between the supply of labor and demand for skills. This skills gap is a challenge for everyone—and it’s likely to worsen as cognitive technologies and automation become more widespread.

This report is a joint endeavor by the Autodesk Foundation* and Monitor Institute by Deloitte. In it, we describe what we have learned from our inquiry into the challenges that underlie the skills gap in the US construction and manufacturing industries, focusing on workers who have specialized job skills but not a traditional four-year degree. It is the product of secondary research and interviews with thought leaders and experts in construction, manufacturing, future of work, and workforce development, as well as primary input, gathered from actual workers, in late 2018.

* Autodesk and the Autodesk Foundation are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Learn more about the Autodesk Foundation.

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Shifting a system: Reimagine Learning and how to tackle persistent problems

By Anna Muoio and Kaitlin Terry Canver, April 2019

In an increasingly complex business and social environment, many are looking for collective solutions to big problems. Networks can address sprawling issues in ways that no individual organization can, working toward innovative solutions that are able to scale. Our full-length report, Shifting a system, presents a case study of how a group of leaders and their organizations can coalesce behind a shared vision for change.

The Reimagine Learning network came together to tackle big education issues, ultimately aggregating and deploying US $38 million in philanthropic capital. Over six years, members worked to create teaching and learning environments aimed at helping to unleash creativity and potential in all students, including those who have been historically underserved. The group—launched with 32 members, now grown to more than 700—helped build and scale organizational models that embed a focus on both social emotional learning and learner diversity, ultimately funding 25 organizations that collectively serve 7 million students nationwide.

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Socially responsible supply chain tools: Understanding the market opportunity

By Lisa Newman-Wise, Caitlin Ryan, and Tony Siesfeld, April 2019

Affordable goods and services or socially responsible global production? New tools for monitoring the supply chain are making it easier for companies to have both, enabling socially responsible supply chain management and presenting new market opportunities for supply chain tools.

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Participate: The power of involving business in social impact networks

By Anna Muoio and Noah Flower, September 2016

Monitor Institute has long recognized the importance of meaningful engagement of the private sector in addressing many of the world's most complex problems. While many social sector leaders understand that engaging the private sector matters, far fewer understand how to do so, or the key questions one should consider before starting down this path of cross-sector collaboration. For instance: Why would a network want to include a company? Or conversely, why would a company want to participate in a network focused on social impact? Can social impact efforts deliver business value? What makes network relationships durable? And ultimately, what are the different needs around accountability, leadership, governance, and mindset? To answer questions such as these, and with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, we have created "PARTICIPATE: The power of involving business in social impact networks"—a handbook for social change leaders aspiring to effectively engage the private sector as authentic participants in the pursuit of social impact.

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Growth for good or good for growth?: How sustainable and inclusive activities are changing business and why companies aren’t changing enough

By Bhaskar Chakravorti, Graham Macmillan, and Tony Siesfeld, October 2014

Economic growth in emerging markets has outpaced the growth of the supporting institutions that make up the broader context in these markets. There are many "contextual gaps", which can give rise to political, social, and environmental challenges. For businesses, both multinational and local, these markets offer some of the most promising growth opportunities.

These businesses cannot afford to wait for governments, grassroots enterprises, or civil society to close the contextual gaps; nor can they rely on prevailing business-as-usual practices to automatically overcome or resolve the gaps. Businesses must actively find ways to reinforce the contexts that support the very markets they need for sustaining their growth aspirations.With emerging markets accounting for two-thirds of global GDP growth over the past decade and about 40 percent of current global output, investing in contextual strength is becoming an essential business need.

That context has given rise to a new wave of growth in sustainable and inclusive business activities (SIBA). But as much as the adoption of SIBA has grown, it has a long ways to go. This report analyzes what motivates companies to engage in SIBA, what challenges they face, and provides a set of recommendations for what philanthropy can do to help advance and spread these essential changes in how business is done.

This work was done in partnership with Citi Foundation and the Fletcher School at Tufts University.