2016 Macro Trends

In this section we will share different themes and trends every month centering around three of our core focus areas for 2016: Next Gen CSR & Shared Value, Nonprofit Capacity Building and Cross-Sector Models.

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Social Impact & Volunteering

A Multi-Sector Muscle
At Common Impact, one of the joys of our work is facilitating the positive social change that springs from cross-sector partnerships. At its core, skills-based volunteering brings engaged participants from the corporate and nonprofit sectors together – connecting smart people with very different perspectives and backgrounds to solve a common challenge. It is always clear that from our skills-based volunteer programs, concrete solutions emerge that address key nonprofit challenges – whether that solution is a new website to showcase an organization’s impact or a strategic plan to launch the next phase of its growth.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Bridging the Nonprofit Leadership Gap
Most of us in and around the social sector have been exposed to the capacity gap that nonprofits confront. On average, nonprofits spend less – often far less – than 10% of their budget on the critical investments that make organizations run and grow, such as business planning, technology, and leadership development.

Social Impact & Volunteering

The Essentials of Engagement
Purpose. Engagement. Impact. These workplace buzzwords are swarming around us as we figure out ways to approach our new workplace culture. Employees, particularly those working in the private sector, are disengaged and are decreasingly loyal to their company. At all stages in their career, individuals are looking for larger meaning in the work that they’re doing every day. And all of this is happening within a workforce that is increasingly elastic.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Engaging Remote Employees
We all recognize that today’s workforce is increasingly virtual and global. Indeed, up to 90% of the US workforce reports working out of the office at least part of the time. Millennials, who will make up 75% of the workforce by the end of the next decade, place primary importance on work / life balance, alongside an ability to have a social impact, over other career related dimensions such as skill development and compensation. This “next generation” is here, and they – together with responsive employers – are crafting new, more flexible, and more deeply conscious ways of engaging with their companies and their colleagues.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Unlocking Purpose and Profit
We have all seen corporate community engagement undergo a transformation in the past 20 years. Through the 1990’s a company’s engagement strategy was largely driven by compliance, aligning to policies that ensure that business does the least harm to consumers and the environment. In the early 2000’s, companies started to develop more intentional investment in their communities with the goal of being a strong corporate citizen in what we now think of as traditional corporate social responsibility. Most recently, companies have stopped thinking about the community as an external and separate actor and are integrating pro-social initiatives into their operations to drive value to their business and society at once.

Social Impact & Volunteering

A Cross-Sector Approach to Closing the Gender Gap
Anyone who works in the nonprofit sector knows that women make up a significant part of the its workforce and leadership – until you get to the top. Women currently account for 43 percent of the board seats among all nonprofits but only 33 percent of those seats at large nonprofits, defined as $25 million or greater in annual income. At the staff level, this gap increases further -- women make up 45 percent of nonprofit CEOs but only 21 percent at large nonprofits, and they are compensated at 66% of their male CEO counterparts.

Social Impact & Volunteering

What the Rise of Skills-Based Volunteering Means for Nonprofits
Over the past ten years, the private sector has vastly increased their investment in communities. In 2015, 75% of companies were engaged in corporate citizenship activities.

Social Impact & Volunteering

2016 Outlook: Business and Purpose
The idea of double and triple bottom line has moved from concept to practice. Companies are recognizing that in order to remain competitive they need to invest in their workforce with more than just a fair paycheck, but by operating under a corporate mandate that has purpose and meaning outside of money making. They are recognizing that partnering with nonprofit organizations is not an act of charity - it's a way to tap into the expertise they need to maintain and strengthen the communities where their employees live and work.

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