‘Signature’ Corporate Investments Now Best Practice

The alignment of corporate community investments to specific causes, issues and themes has become best practice in the corporate investment world, according to a new white paper.

The Corporate Signature Program: A Custom Approach to Philanthropy, by global philanthropy organisation Global Impact, suggests such “signature’’ programs are effective because they offer a means to focus corporate citizenship for maximum impact.

“While the tradition of corporations investing in communities goes back decades, both their giving strategies and methods have evolved significantly in recent years,” the report said.

“One of the recent trends that many corporations are pursuing is the alignment of business and philanthropic goals.

“Signature programs allow companies to mobilise their resources in one or several focus areas and scale up the program in markets where a corporation has a geographic footprint. This helps corporations achieve one of the primary goals…being strategic globally and relevant locally.”

Benefits identified in the report included the ability to:

• Respond to growing demand to build impactful and efficient programs
• Mobilise corporate resources around an issue or geography
• Have long term relevancy to the company
• Require measurement and evaluation to continue to make a business case for the investment
• Engage employees and other stakeholders

“The development of a signature program is a strategic process that requires broad corporate engagement and expertise to design and implement these types of programs. This includes thinking through the focus and design of the program, and selecting partners and financial mechanisms to ensure the program achieves its long-term goals,” the report said.

The white paper, a continuation of research carried out by Global Impact and Indiana University, “Giving Beyond Borders: A Study of Global Giving by U.S. Corporations,” examined why corporations invest in such programs, what companies seek to achieve through their giving, what steps to take to create a signature program, and what types of models can be used for program management.

“The information presented in this white paper will be valuable for corporations looking to find a way to boost their corporate citizenship without hurting their bottom line. The case studies presented in this piece show that these programs are not only charitable, but a smart business investment,” Global Impact President and CEO Scott Jackson said.

Global Impact is a global philanthropy organisation working with 450 public and private sector workplace giving campaigns to generate funding for an alliance of more than 120 international charities.

The organisation serves as administrator for one of the world’s largest workplace giving campaigns, the Combined Federal Campaign-Overseas.