Businesses communicate the impact that they have in many different ways; for some, it is a part of their regular and ongoing marketing communications, for others, it is something that they do annually by publishing an impact report (a legal requirement for all B Corps), whilst many still avoid it altogether.
Communicating impact is only going to become more important for businesses. Whether or not measuring and communicating impact on the planet and people as well as reporting on profit is a legal requirement, or simply a step towards transparency, more and more organisations are starting to share this information.
From talking to clients and fellow B Corps, we realised that often the people responsible for measuring and communicating impact were having to work a lot of things out for themselves, through trial and error. We want to help take the guesswork out of this task.
Tip 1
Identify the issues that matter most for your business and your stakeholders. This will ensure you focus your communications on your key sustainability opportunities, challenges, and topics your audience wants to hear about.
Tip 2
Bring the latest external sustainability trends and data to provide an external lens. This will help to show you are knowledgeable and committed to learning about and responding to the issues that matter most, beyond the walls of your business.
Tip 3
Paint a picture of your impacts from end-to-end of your value chain. From sourcing raw materials to how your products are used and disposed of. Acknowledging that your impacts occur throughout the lifecycles of your products is crucial to paint a full and transparent picture – even if you are not addressing every issue yet.
Tip 4
Don’t forget to discuss your impacts and approach across each of the three areas of environmental, social, and governance (known as EEG). This will ensure you cover your impacts on the planet and people, as well as how do business day-to-day.
Tip 5
Be balanced and humble. No company has addressed every challenge they face. Being transparent about your challenges will earn you respect. Only discussing your successes risks greenwashing and could fuel skepticism among your increasingly informed audiences.
Tip 6
Be concise and each to understand. Stay onboard, use short sentences and consider infographics. Be careful about your choice of words and keep up-to-date with the key sustainable terminology. This will avoid information overload and will ensure you speak to your audiences on their level, as opposed to yours.
Tip 7
Tailor your communications to meet different audience needs. Don’t just depend on a stand-alone report – use your website, social media channels, and other formats to target your messaging to different groups. From investors and community groups to employees and consumers.
This post is part of the Impact Reporting series from Leap.