Businesses reveal obstacles to implementing CSR programmes
Melanie May | 18 October 2021 | News
Lack of connections, budget constraints and a lack of time and resources mean more than 1 in 3 companies struggle to find a suitable charity or social enterprise match for their CSR and social value delivery programmes, according to research conducted by AI matchmaking platform whatimpact.
The lack of connections to suitable charity organisations and social enterprises was ranked as the most significant problem for companies engaging in social value delivery.
The survey identified the second most recurring problem to be budget constraints, with a third of companies believing there to be a lack of resources and time dedicated to CSR and social value delivery programmes.
Advertisement
whatimpact’s research, published in a white paper, further revealed the third most highly ranked obstacle for implementing CSR and social value delivery programmes to be reporting and measuring impact once social delivery projects are completed. According to whatimpact, current measurement and reporting tools rely heavily on calculation as the main method, leading to numerical and proxy-driven results, rather than a proven social impact. While these forms of measurement are easy to understand, numbers can’t capture the real impact.
Since the UK government’s introduction of The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and the Procurement Policy Note (06/20) introduced in January 2021, all companies bidding for public contracts must present a social value delivery plan and report back on their social value impact, or risk losing their contract. whatimpact’s research shows the changes, progress and developments made, and also highlights the obstacles and suggested approach to overcome the identified challenges.
Tiia Sammallahti, CEO/Founder of whatimpact said:
“It’s been nine months since the government’s mandatory policy changes, and we wanted to investigate how the space is evolving and how the emphasis on social value delivery on the Government’s £284 billion annual tendering is impacting both companies and charities. The policy changes laid a promising foundation for achieving change, and we believe that there is immense potential for meaningful, large-scale and collaborative social and economic impact in the UK. However, our research reveals the obstacles we have yet to defeat in order to better approach and overcome global challenges.”
The research was conducted by whatimpact with over 300 respondents and interviewees from charities, social enterprises, companies and government officials.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.