The research report, Strategy and Measurement – Towards Lead-Practice in Community Investment, found that while 94 per cent of those surveyed (across marketing, sustainability/CSR, corporate affairs and HR) agreed that measurement was important:
- Only 33 per cent of companies measure the effect CI has on customers (either retention or acquisition)
- Nearly 70 per cent hardly think about brand factors, such as the extent to which a community investment could be leveraged for PR purposes, when choosing investments
- Roughly 1/4 of companies do not measure the reach of their community investment activities
- Over 1/3 companies barely consider their ability to measure impact when choosing investments
“Unless 67 per cent of companies don’t have customer acquisition or retention on their strategy; or unless only 30% of companies are serious about brand building; or unless 25% of companies aren’t concerned about reliably measuring impact … community investment is currently nowhere near as ‘strategic’ as we like to think it is,” said Dom Thurbon, Chief Creative Officer of Karrikins Group.
“Too many community strategies, despite real and genuine effort, still do not align with and address the major business challenges that their organisations face,” Thurbon continued. “When they do purport to align, they are not adequately measured. This limits their strategic value.”
Part research report, part case study and part strategy workbook, Thurbon hopes the paper starts conversations about how community investment can grow business and change the world at the same time.
“We believe that business can be a real force for positive change,” said Thurbon. “We hope this paper helps practitioners to increase the business value and social impact of community investments.”
The paper is freely downloadable from the Karrikins Group website.
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