How do you view social impact? That’s what I’ve been wondering. So I've been having conversations with folks across different disciplines about the concept. Since much of my work involves communicating impact–through reports, websites, and other channels–I'm curious about developing a deeper understanding of how different people view this broad topic. I want to understand it both from folks who work to create social impact but also from everyday people who are interesting in furthering social impact through their purchases and support of organizations.
What are the biggest challenges in how we think about impact? The biggest gaps? What does the term mean to people? How do we communicate impact with enthusiasm and transparency? How do we address cynicism? These are some questions I'll be exploring with colleagues and friends from various sectors.
One of my first conversations was with Caitlin Rosser, Director of Impact Management at Calvert Impact. I wanted her perspective as someone whose work is all about measuring and communicating impact. Below are some of highlights from our conversation.
The first takeaway from our conversation is that the impact you communicate should be directly tied to your strategy. Sometimes it’s easy to start reporting numbers that are the easiest to measure, but they may not be the most compelling ones to share.
I find examples helpful, so let’s say your company produces soap–ethically made and environmentally friendly. When crafting that impact report, what will you highlight? This consideration shapes everything – the data you include, the stories you tell, the aspects of your work you emphasize. For your soap company, you might lean into stories and details about the process of making your soap. You’ll want to talk about the problem and how you’re addressing it. Tell stories about your staff. It's tempting to get lost in details that fascinate you professionally (reviews you’ve received, number of stores your products are in). You have to keep pulling your head out from under the blanket (with your little flashlight, geeking out over your accomplishments) and ask yourself: does what I'm sharing actually connect to what we say we're about?
Caitlin is a numbers person and although she loves numbers, she realized that most people are afraid of them. Data is powerful but it needs context. She mentioned research about how people respond best to hearing other people’s lived experiences. This is, of course, storytelling. Still, I loved the term “other people’s lived experiences” because it speaks to how empathy emerges when we hear stories. For many people, that's where the magic happens, not just in the numbers. Maybe we need to think about our audience like children. We should show our care for them by making things easy to understand. We can read them a storybook (with pictures!)
We both shared skepticism about how much impact that is communicated is accurate. This is a tricky one for me as an ethical marketer. I don't want to "impact-wash" and make a slick brochure to raise money or sell products if it’s not grounded in truth. And yet it's also the game we all must play to be heard and to share our intentions. But who would trust an "intention-report"? Still, I wonder how to weave transparency into impact communications.
For one thing, more stories! Back to our soap company. If you tell a story about a shop owner proudly looking over their free-from-plastic shelves, and pair it with the number of stores your product is in, you’re weaving together a personal narrative with the bigger picture.
I also think it’s a good idea to talk about how you measure impact, and break it down for people. Audiences are used to being lied to by marketing. It’s refreshing to hear something real, that talks about the challenges of making impact. When I hear something true that doesn’t sugar coat the problems, it resonates.
We also talked about how impact can be a meandering river that is hard to capture in a catchy headline. Caitlin gave the example of housing. When you hear “affordable housing”, perhaps you conjure up an image of a young family opening the door to their own home. But she talked about the ripple effects of safe, stable housing.
There are socio-emotional impacts in the family that are nearly impossible to capture in data. For example, one outcome is that when kids feel more stable, they can lean into school more. They also make an emotional investment in their community. From that, their neighbors are strengthened and the community becomes more secure. This is just one aspect of what happens with affordable housing, but it’s not something that’s easy to measure.
Still, we can talk about it. Sometimes we communicate too much about tangible things because they are easy, and perhaps too little about the nuances because they are harder to put into a Facebook post.
As I continue exploring impact communication with people across disciplines, I'm reminded that our work exists in the space between measurable outcomes and unmeasurable butterfly effects. The challenge—and the art—is finding ways to touch on both.