Strategies to a Successful Social Impact Committee

You now know the benefits of social impact committees, and how you can start and manage one in your workplace.

But simply having a committee is different from having a successful one - one that has proven results in improving your social impact initiatives.

Here are 3 key strategies to help make your social impact committee successful.

Choose a focus area

Broadly speaking, social impact is “a significant, positive change that addresses a pressing social challenge.” It encompasses many impact areas including impact investing, education, environmental sustainability, and human & civil rights. Tackling all these challenges may be overwhelming, and with resource and capacity limits, it is just not feasible for a single company to do.

It is best to choose one impact area to focus on at a time. Which area makes the most sense given your company’s purpose and mission?

It can be hard to get everyone to agree on the direction of your social impact, especially if you want your committee to be closely involved. One great solution is to rotate through different focus areas every quarter, and have advocates of each area spearhead an initiative.

Think internally and externally

Organizations tend to forget that social impact initiatives aren’t exclusive to external stakeholders. It is equally as important to have internal initiatives that encourage social-do-goodness among your employees’ lives.

These internal initiatives allow your company to fully embody its social impact goals and focus areas and be more authentic about them.

Here’s an idea if you’re passionate about animals: In addition to having group volunteering days at the local shelter, partner up with them to bring some adoptable, rescue animals to the workplace! Not only will they appreciate these furry friends, but it is the perfect opportunity to help educate your employees on animal rescue and why volunteering at the shelter matters.

Your customers may not directly see all these great initiatives you have internally, but your employees definitely will! This is an effective way to foster internal champions and community ambassadors within your organization who will let their family and friends know how great of a company they work for!

Start small

One of the key factors to a successful social impact committee is engagement - not only from the committee members, but from your other employees as well.

You could lead many amazing initiatives to help contribute to social good, such as having a designated volunteer day, but ultimately you need your employees to actively participate and engage with the initiative to create the social impact that you want to see. (Having a company volunteer day where no one volunteers doesn’t add value to the company or the community).

Start with small initiatives with a low level of commitment needed. This lower barrier would encourage more people to participate and be involved. Then, lead up to larger initiatives with bigger commitments needed.

Your social impact committee can only be successful if your employees are engaged!

Bringing It All Together

Bringing these strategies together may look like this:

Your company mission is to make education more accessible for individuals. The purpose of the social impact committee is to extend your mission beyond your product and customers, so the impact area you choose is education.

Here’s an example of an internal initiative the committee could start: They could bring in a mentorship organization like Big Brothers Big Sisters to run a workshop on how to become a great mentor (what it takes, what considerations they need to make, and how to have a successful mentor session).

Externally, you could encourage employees to mentor others through nonprofit organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada. In addition, employees can offer their skills and expertise to help nonprofits through a company employee volunteering program.

Keep in mind that this is just an example to help you visualize how all these pieces come together. You’ll want to give some thought to how your initiatives affect other areas of your company.

Now you have all the strategies you need to make your social impact committee successful. We're excited to see how your social impact grows, and let us know if we can help in any way!

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