My task during this meeting was to secure an interest on the part of my friend’s agency to co-fund this project. When my friend rushed into the coffee shop, he sat down and mentioned he had limited time. What was my ask? I shared with him the situation - that this well known client of mine was testing a new social impact program, had received some substantial initial funding, but was keen to bring other partners on board, and in particular, wanted my friend’s agency to be a core funder in the replication and scale of the program. 

My friend looked at me like I had told him a three-headed alien had landed in my driveway. 

Why do they need us he asked?

It’s a fair question. Why would a multi-billion dollar company need more funding to advance a social impact project?

Here’s what I shared with him:

1. Corporate investment in social sustainability or environmental projects is still a tiny fraction of other types of program investments. Why is that? As we progress from companies investing in social or environmental programs simply to save face or get ahead of regulation, to realizing the business benefit of doing so, there is still a cultural shift that must take place inside large businesses. Huge percentages of business budgets still go to marketing, operations, logistics and overhead just to ensure products and services reach consumers. The splice of funding that goes toward corporate social responsibility programs is relatively small. That doesn’t mean the splice isn’t growing. It absolutely is. In 2018 corporations spent $20 billion on corporate social responsibility. That’s a fraction of the hundreds of billions spent on marketing each year, however. But given the fact that we still need $2 to $3 trillion to address all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals in the next 10 years, and we need for businesses to be a big part of the market development necessary to do so, corporate funding will simply not enough. It’s an important start, but it’s just not enough.
2. There is growing recognition that corporate investment towards solutions that help bring jobs, resources and economic mobility to areas with environmental or social challenges is necessary if we are going to address the 17 SDGs. That said, corporations cannot operate in certain environments under current conditions without proper safety, disaster response, water, sanitation and health infrastructure, education, and other critical investments. While some companies do support programs that help with these issues, to truly shore up the right foundation for social and environmental programs to succeed, governments must be providing funding for programs that do the same. This allows for risk abatement on the part of corporations as well. Thus government funding matches toward corporate investment have become a critical piece of economic development.
3. Even for some of the most sophisticated companies, with complex global supply chains, the issues that corporations face working in the farthest reaches of our planet have become more challenging, nuanced and dynamic as issues like climate change, coronavirus, human rights and gender equity (not to mention access to basic necessities and income equality) plague global dialogue. It’s naive to think that companies, no matter how deep in ranks or technically savvy, could address any of these issues alone. Thus collaboration with other actors that have a technical ability to address these perplexing challenges is critical. These collaborations require outside funding. There simply isn’t enough funding currently inside a business’s coffers to pay outright. Should companies siphon off a small percentage of their marketing budgets to augment the money going into these programs? YES! Are they currently? Yes. To an extent. In the meantime, though, with outside funding there will be an opportunity to show the value in building more collaborative, technically-based replicable programs.
4. Often a corporation wants to test a new social or environmental program in a geography where their track record is limited or nil. Collaborating with funders, particularly public funders or private investors that know the region better, allows for a bit of risk tolerance and can help ensure programs or projects get off the ground with the right footing locally. This is particularly important when dealing with indigenous communities or geographies where corporate investment may be fraught with skepticism or challenges. Obviously companies must be strong stewards of social identify and the environment at all times.

Because of these reasons, and a recognition that working in concert with the private sector will allow funders to make their investments go farther, funders across the spectrum have been ramping up their private sector engagement strategies. Collaboration in international development is no longer just about implementation or designing projects. It has developed into a method for identifying and deploying systemic solutions that promote long-term sustainability and lasting impact for the people and communities who need the support most.

As for the coffee date with my friend at the funding agency, we weren’t able to come to terms during that initial coffee meeting. But after several meetings with our corporate client, we helped build out a strong partnership that will bring opportunities for sustainable impact for decades to come.

Want to learn more about private sector engagement to address the SDGs?

Read about how to set SDG commitments, what's needed to make public/private partnerships more effective and why leveraged funding is critical to advance the SDGs.

Of course contact us with any questions or to learn about how we can help your SDG program find the right funding, partnerships and scale for impact.

The UN Global Compact, a collaborative initiative of global companies working together with UN member  governments and affiliated civil society actors to advance societal goals, kicked off their Leaders Summit today. An annual gathering of the world's most vocal experts around the role business can and should play to affect change, the Leaders Summit is a who's who in the world of social impact and mission-driven business.

Originally, the event would have taken place at UN Headquarters in New York City. This year, of course, we were able to join virtually. The fact that the event was free to anyone who applied, and required no travel, nearly 20,000 attendees from all over the world joined in. The UN Global Compact team has made an effort to craft a robust 24-hour event that is accessible during all time-zones. It's been remarkable to see the effort in action.

The Summit has thus far focused on how business and purpose-centered leaders can coalesce to make global change, recover from the current COVID pandemic and associated economic slowdown, and address racial injustice while moving us into a place of equity and harmony. That’s quite a hefty task.

Whereas one may feel suspect of a coalition of businesses making much difference in our somewhat mad world these days, the sessions have brought me a sense of peace, hope and excitement.

For example during a brief networking round of speed chats, I met a 10th grader from Istanbul, Turkey, who had founded a women’s rights organization and was CEO of a girls’ education organization promoting gender equity in Turkey. In 10th grade! I met a human rights advisor who was working with the United Nations on equal rights for laborers in global supply chains. He was also an architect. Imagine that combination of talents! I also met a student from Poland who was studying international business, while advising the UN as part of their Youth Network. The young among us are truly not sitting idle. They are making change all around us. I heard from a young woman management consulting who in her spare time helps advocate against child labor and modern slavery. The problems our world faces are not insignificant, but if these are our future leaders, we are in good hands.

What was another element of the discussions I was encouraged by? How many companies, across a very diverse range of sizes, global footprint, industries and leadership, spoke out about their commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a suite of 17 social, economic and environmental goals that the United Nations has set out to acheive before 2030. Commitments around issues like responsible consumption and production, water and sanitation, quality education, access to healthcare, no poverty, and gender equity were extensively discussed in each of the breakouts I was in, as well as in plenary. Companies were honest about what makes them responsible stewards of the planet (or not) and suggested we call them out on their commitments. The CEO of beauty brand Natura, a Brazilian company that owns its own brand, plus those of Body Shop and Avon, even went so far as to say that companies must be held accountable. That we, as consumers and stakeholders, must push companies to be honest about what’s feasible and where there are gaps in their actions. That companies must set targets, no matter how small, and work towards making bigger goals and taking bigger action.

One of the most persuasive arguments for companies taking a leading role around the SDGs is actually imbedded in SDG 17, which calls for all global actors, businesses, civil society, governments, and individuals, to partner and work together to advance the other 16 goals in collaboration. In fact the Summit even held a “SDG Power Hour” towards the end of Day 1 dedicated to brands, UN agencies and civil actors coming online and sharing their partnership aims, goals and efforts underway.

SDG 17 is obviously the most pertinent to us at Connective Impact, given our work on effective partnership building to solve the world’s most pressing problems. And as it is happens, we’ve spent the last few weeks talking to nearly 40 companies about their partnerships to advance SDG commitments. We’ll share results during our webinar this week "Finding the Right Partner to Effectively Deliver Your Sustainable Development Goals", as well as the research we are working on for later this month.

The timing could clearly be no better than now. Our planet needs us. And what’s more, our people need us. Change is indeed afoot and based on what I’ve seen among the leaders of our future, of our businesses, of those I heard from today, and of those working in international development more broadly, change is absolutely possible.
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Being a fundraiser or business development professional is challenging enough as it is. A global pandemic makes your job even more complicated,. Now you must adjust your fundraising goals to incorporate urgent, emergent needs for your nonprofit, social enterprise or company. It seems the only funding out there is for COVID-related projects. There’s emergency grants, loans, and countless free resources, short term funds, funds for COVID cures, innovation or equipment.
​Where does this scenario leave organizations keen to invest in post-COVID rebuild or continuous resiliency measures?  How do you, as a fundraiser, get clear and focused on your fundraising process for the longer-term resiliency of stakeholders?

Here are 4 simple steps you can take to stay intentional around your fundraising objectives and drown out the noise:

1. Review priorities. You likely had your 2020 fundraising strategy developed well before COVID. Now is the time to adjust your priorities. Your funding needs have changed, or will need to evolve as the COVID crisis continues to play out. Start with a simple prioritization exercise. You need to differentiate between what's emergency "fill the gap" priorities versus what your medium or longer term strategic needs are. Clarify your absolute must haves. Those urgent needs should be the focus of your fundraising for the next 3-6 months. Luckily, donors are shifting some of their restricted funding towards more urgent recipient needs given COVID. This will help dramatically ease the way in which organizations implement emergency, stop-gap programs, and the usual burden of reporting or systematizing funding for donors’ needs. Hopefully this trend will continue even beyond COVID.

2. Think next about "nice to haves". Once you have confirmed what your most urgent, short term, “fill the gap” needs are, consider what “nice to haves”, or medium term projects will slowly allow you to rebuild your post-COVID pipeline. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be past your state of emergency before thinking about some of the more medium term needs. Otherwise you’ll find yourself playing catch up down the road after some of the emergency funding sources have dried up. Donors may not be as accessible then. Again, these nice to haves will help set the foundation for your longer-term planning which comes next.

3. Begin longer-term planning. After completing your priorities around medium term needs or opportunities, revisit your two, three, five and ten year goals. Go back to your original fundraising plan and eliminate which objectives will not be achievable over the longer term given any changes you’ve made in your organizational structure or approach. Then shift your gaze towards the future. Redevelop the priorities for your organization’s mission and goals (ideally with leadership buy-in).  Just like in any strategy process, consider what your time-bound commitments are to your stakeholders, versus what’s more idealistic and forward looking. You’ll need to make assumptions about what the world may look like in two, three or five years, but as a fundraiser, it’s your job to find the resources to position your organization or company in the space to craft part of that future. That’s what the post-COVID environment will depend upon.

4. Consider dollars ONLY after steps 1-3. Only after you have your emergency/short-term needs, medium term operational needs and longer-term needs defined should you start putting dollar values to them. Consider timelines as well. Some donors (i.e. public funders like governments) will have longer timelines than some of the emergency funding sources available for COVID. Make your matches with both funding needs and those differing timelines in mind. Be cognizant of where your objectives truly match what donors are looking for. It’s a waste of your time and the donor’s if you prepare proposal materials and you are simply not the right fit. Make evaluating whether you are a good recipient for the donor’s requirements a key element in your funding process.