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Social Impact Measurement and Management Online Course
By AVPA
AVPA and Social Value UK offer their in-depth knowledge of the practice of social impact measurement and management to help you learn how to maximise the impact you are generating. This online course is especially designed to support investors for impact, foundations, social impact funds and other types of capital providers, in understanding how to measure and manage impact at the portfolio level.
Making the Mark: The Benchmark for Impact Investing Practice
By BlueMark
This research report from BlueMark synthesizes insights about the development of IMM practices in the impact investing ecosystem: which practices are most widespread, where the field is underdeveloped, case studies on best practices, etc. The research currently being undertaken by Impact Frontiers and AVPN will look to build on this research, and BlueMark is also a new member.
Climate Investor One Case Study
By Convergence
This is a case study of Climate Investor One (CIO), a $850 million blended vehicle designed to advance the development of renewable energy infrastructure projects in emerging markets. It’s pioneering three-phase sequential financing approach aims to align project capital needs with appropriate investors maximising private investment while also ensuring access to finance to early stage renewable energy projects.
The Little Book of Investing in Nature
By Global Canopy
This book lays down various alternatives to finance biodiversity conservation. Aimed at governments, NGOs and private sector investors, it introduces an overarching framework that organizes biodiversity finance techniques into five categories – revenue generation, better delivery, expenditure realignment, avoidance of future expenditures, and catalysts.
Building Blended Finance in India
By Stanford Social Innovation Review
Highlighting the potential of blended finance to advance development, this article discusses the example of a successful blended finance program – REVIVE Alliance in India created to support the most vulnerable communities that are experiencing severe credit crunch due to the pandemic. While successful, many such platforms face multiple bottlenecks constraining the vast benefits blended finance can offer.
China encourages green financing in Malaysia through BRI
By The Star
China has become the primary driver of green financing in the region over the years. It’s ambitious BRI coalition in efforts to go green provides Malaysia – the largest recipient of investment amongst South-East Asian countries, the impetus to boost green financing efforts to mitigate climate change and improve livelihoods.
Gender Bonds Haven’t Been a Big Hit Globally, but a Japanese Bank May Change That
By PassBlue
Although the market witnesses growth, very few gender bonds have been issued in the past decade. Discussing the different approaches gender bonds issuance can initiate to impact, the Japan International Cooperation Agency – one of the first public development banks to issue a gender bond, sets a precedent representing a much needed change in the market as it taps into investor interest thereby advancing gender equality.
Creating Shared Value Through Inclusive Business Strategies
By CSR Asia
This paper by CSR Asia outlines how inclusive business (IB) strategies can create shared value and walks through practical steps companies can take to develop an effective IB strategy. It makes a case for inclusive business and demonstrates how companies can leverage aspects of their value chain to create opportunities for low-income communities. You will also find a number of case studies from around the Asia region.
Blended finance in the poorest countries. The need for a better approach
By ODI
This white paper evaluates blended finance as an instrument to fill the SDG financing gap in low-income countries, and finds that there are overlooked contextual factors that limit blended finance’s efficacy in underdeveloped market contexts.
Listening During COVID-19: A Year in Review
By 60dB
60dB is an impact management and evaluation organization that uses on-the-ground surveying techniques to assess the most material impact metrics for beneficiaries. This report aggregates and analyzes their survey data collected over the course of 2020 with an eye toward sectoral and regional trends (sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia).
Investors and banks tell UK government to develop investment standards for Just Transition
By Responsible Investor
Private investors have organized to urge the UK government to set definitions, agenda items, and standards to coordinate and facilitate private investment in an equitable transition to decarbonized economy.
Introduction to Inclusive Business
By Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN)
This general introductory course imparts basic knowledge on inclusive business, its definition and features. The course also sets the parameters of the IB target groups and how they are involved in the value chain. It outlines the different sectors where the BoP is engaged, identifies different IB approaches and illustrates the inclusive business ecosystem. Overall, the intro course makes the case for inclusive business and highlights IB’s positive impact on the SDGs.
Q&A: How to scale social change through employees
By Devex
Employees are no longer just the lifeblood of companies in delivering products and services, but are essential change agents in their communities. Speaking to Devex, Paurvi Bhatt, president at the Medtronic Foundation, explained the role of employers in enabling their staff to advocate for change and shared best practices for doing so.
From rhetoric to reality: Transforming philanthropy to deliver outcomes that matter most
By Devex
How does an organization transition from one-off investments to a more strategic philanthropic approach? And how can mission-driven corporate philanthropies deliver scalable and sustainable solutions in health? Here, the Medtronic Foundation shows how it has applied lessons learned to its organizational strategy.
How Johnson & Johnson transformed its corporate business-technology operating model
By McKinsey Digital
In 2019, Johnson & Johnson remodeled its technology–business partnership to elevate the employee experience when engaging with any corporate technology. The transformation was a complex series of initiatives, but three decisions mattered most in making it successful.
Empowering women through trade
By Visa
Women-owned and women-led businesses are significantly underrepresented in international trade. Although about one-third of the world’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are women-owned, globally, only about 15 percent of exporting SMEs are led by women. This paper appeals to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on economically empowering women through trade.
Corporate Impact Investing in Innovation
By Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR)
Corporate impact investing strategies often originate from the balance sheet, but companies are increasingly using alternative structures, including off-balance sheet funds, donor-advised funds, and fund of funds. Learn about the five characteristics of effective corporate impact funds.
The case for stakeholder capitalism
By McKinsey
The business ecosystem is evolving; those who resist will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Business leaders should make the choice to demonstrate that their mission is serving not only shareholders but also customers, suppliers, workers, and communities.
A new era of corporate impact
By Alliance (Karoline Heitmann, Lonneke Roza, Alessia Gianoncelli and Steven Serneels)
With this novel approach of developing collective corporate impact strategies, corporate foundations and other corporate social investors can combine different financial instruments to develop more holistic and systemic strategies for societal change.
Catalysing Collaboration: How & Why Corporates & Social Enterprises Should Partner to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
By Resonance and the Catalyst 2030 Private Sector Working Group
In this report, companies can better understand the value social enterprises can bring to the table, the ways in which companies and social enterprises collaborate for impact, and how to more effectively partner for success.
The value of value creation
By McKinsey
It’s critical that managers and board directors have a clear understanding that value creation is not limited to maximizing today’s share price but maximizing company’s value to all shareholders & stakeholders, now and in the future.
Keeping global networks open: Strategies to foster competition and development in the digital economy
By Visa
Global networks offer tremendous value in the form of new markets, efficient ecosystems, continuous innovation, improved cybersecurity, and resilience and responsiveness to local supply shocks. This paper makes a case for fostering openness in global networks and presents strategies for making these networks work better.
Worker Health & Wellbeing: A Material Sustainability Issue for Business
By Corporate Citizenship
With the COVID 19 pandemic, health and well-being has become an established material sustainability issue for companies worldwide. This webinar explored health and well-being as a critical sustainability issue that requires a cross-departmental approach within companies.
How the Pandemic Affected Employees in South, East and Southeast Asia
By Gallup
As the pandemic continued, Gallup asked those employed in South, East, and Southeast Asia how they were feeling- documenting life evaluations and measuring employee engagement. Despite firms’ economic recovery, employees’ wellbeing dictates region’s long-term health.
Almost 9 in 10 employers in Asia Pacific prioritise employee experience for post-pandemic success
By Willis Towers Watson
As companies transition to new ways of work, the number of organisations in Asia Pacific making employee experience a top priority has surged, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. Explore the survey’s findings on how employers are imagining post pandemic-era.
State of the Global Workplace 2021 Report
By Gallup
Gallup captures statistics on how life is going for employees in a representative sample of the world, highlighting key trends in employee engagement & wellbeing and ESG indicators. Use this as a guide as you rethink workplaces in 2021.
Strategically leveraging corporate resources for social impact
By Alliance (Amy McGoldrick)
Read what key leaders think about the shifts taking place within social impact, and how to increase this within business practices and core values. Learn about the ways in which social impact strategies can create both business and social value.
The Rise of the Corporate Social Investor
By EVPA
The strategic alignment between business and corporate foundations, impact funds, and accelerators shows enormous potential for achieving social impact. But they can align in different ways, each with its strengths and weaknesses.
Collective corporate impact strategies to deepen the impact on particular communities: Case Study on Schneider Electric
By EVPA
This case study highlights how Schneider Electric, Schneider Electric Energy Access (SEEA) impact fund and Schneider Electric Foundation are working together to provide deeper support to communities in Sub-Saharan Africa who do not have access to energy.
The rise of digital remittances: How innovation is improving global money movement
By Visa
Remittances are crucial for hundreds of millions of families and for many countries that depend on them. This paper examines remittance trends, looks at the advantages of digital remittances, and offers recommendations for continuing to improve global money movement for everyone, everywhere.
How companies capture the value of sustainability: Survey findings
By McKinsey
What makes the difference between a sustainability program that produces business value and one that doesn’t? A new survey identifies practices that distinguish value-creating companies from others.
Collective corporate impact strategies to deepen the impact on particular communities: Case Study on Rabo Foundation
By EVPA
This case study outlines how Rabo Foundation, Rabo Rural Fund and Rabobank are working together to scale the impact of farmer-based organisations that support smallholder farmers in developing countries.
Small Business in the Digital Age: Recommendations for Recovery and Resilience
By Visa
This paper examines the results of a survey of small businesses in five developing countries (Brazil, Colombia, Malaysia, Philippines, and South Africa) and finds that firms that embraced digital commerce and cross-border capabilities before and during the pandemic have weathered the crisis better than others and are more optimistic for the future.
Sharpening our Focus on Corporate Giving: Keeping Gender Equality in the Frame
By Australians Investing In Women (AIIW), Champions of Change Coalition
This report seeks to better understand the beneficiaries of the ‘giving’. The goal is to ensure that intended impact brings women and girls into focus, and that well meaning ‘gender neutral’ giving programs are not underserving women and girls unintentionally.
Webinar: Designing an effective stakeholder survey to improve impact performance
By SoPact
Lindsay Smalling, Head of US Sales, 60 Decibels takes us through tips and tricks of remote surveys and case studies of effective stakeholder surveys that have helped companies deepen their impact and grow their business.
Corporate Philanthropy in Asia: Innovations that Unlock the Resources of Business for the Common Good
By Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship &Philanthropy (ACSEP)
Explore the changing face of corporate philanthropy in Asia. Draw on 23 case studies from the region, covering innovations that illustrate how corporations are offering finance, volunteering and business know-how to non-profits and social enterprises.
Role of Partnerships in Building Sustainable and Scalable Inclusive Businesses
By Mastercard & Covestro
Hear from Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth on how their efforts to connect people and businesses to digital networks is helping lift entire communities out of poverty, and how Covestro has developed innovative inclusive businesses and sustainable value chain collaborations to benefit low-income communities.
Take 5: How Companies Benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility
By Kellogg Insight
Clear benefits accrue to communities when firms are serious about CSR. But how does doing good affect firms’ bottom line? Here, Kellogg faculty share research and perspectives on how companies can also benefit from engaging in socially responsible activities.
