The Impact Conundrum: How to Demonstrate CSR Progress

Feb 14, 2013 10:15 AM ET

Prove Your Purpose

Demonstrating progress against CSR missions is paramount, but many companies struggle to find or collect these metrics. We recently asked 18 corporate philanthropic leaders, all representing Fortune 200 companies, where they are on their CSR measurement journeys. The wide-ranging responses reflect a CSR reality in which companies are still figuring out how to prove their purpose.

From the candid “[Measurement] is my Achilles’ heel,” to the aspirational “It’s the Holy Grail;” and from the determined, “[CSR measurement] is my top priority for 2013,” to a simple resignation of “Ugh,” CSR measurement is, in many cases, unchartered territory. Companies are unsure where to begin, what to measure, and how to track and report progress. But there is a universal desire to figure out the impact conundrum.

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