How Starwood Went from Strategy to Impact

Apr 14, 2015 6:00 AM ET
Campaign: Getting to Impact

Are you a "funder" or an "investor"? Learn how Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide partnered with Versaic and The Rensselaerville Institute to evolve their giving mindset from a "funder" to an "investor," and the amazing impact they are building in communities today.

Starwood started by identifying their mission and focus areas and then formulating a plan. The Rensselaerville Institute helped Starwood get very clear about the specific, tangible outcomes they wanted to see worldwide, and this drove their focus areas for giving. Starwood was able to bring a results focus to its giving by defining, tracking, assessing and improving results for their grantmaking. To put the plan in action, Starwood then partnered with Versaic to implement a flexible system that streamlined the program management process. Together the teams crafted the right questions to ensure that all the necessary information would be collected from charitable partnerships, from initial proposal through impact data collected post-grant. The system launched in a matter of weeks and Versaic continues to tweak features to adapt to the Starwood team's evolving needs and phase in additional elements. Download the eBook to discover how Starwood easily measures and reports on the impact that they drive in communities worldwide.