Toward Developing a Framework for Measuring the Business Value of Corporate Community Involvement

Business today is a key player in addressing social and environmental challenges. Every year companies contribute significant resources—cash, in-kind donations and employee volunteers—to non-profit organizations and community support initiatives. This support is critical for community development. Yet many companies have a limited understanding of the value their initiatives add to the community or to their business. In most cases they measure inputs and outputs but not actual impacts. Measuring and communicating the business value of community-focused programs, however, is critical to maintaining funding for such programs in downturns such as the recession of 2007–2009. This article provides critical analysis of existing efforts to measure the business value of corporate community involvement programs and offers guidance for developing indicators of business impact. Building on lessons learned, it identifies key criteria and makes recommendations for the development of an effective measurement framework and indicators. The article concludes with a discussion on how such a framework can lead to social change.