CHICAGO, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Creating customized
reports for donors is one of the most time-consuming tasks
nonprofits face, but a new common reporting standard called the
Impact Genome Project® (IGP) provides an alternative that could
save nonprofits millions of hours, translating to $1.2 billion in annual financial savings for the
nonprofit sector.1
The Allstate Foundation, together with five of America's leading
corporations, including the Albertsons Companies, AT&T, Intel,
Moody's and T. Rowe Price are
adopting the IGP platform as their standard for reporting on the
results of the nonprofits who benefit from their annual corporate
philanthropy. These organizations believe an industry-wide
standard should be adopted across the philanthropic community and
hope other corporations will join them in driving more measurable
impact in the social sector.
The IGP is the first of its kind tool in the philanthropic
community using evidence and standardized taxonomies to create
better data and standardized metrics to inform nonprofits and
funders alike. Up until now, nonprofits have had to develop
their own metrics and generate tailored performance reports suited
to individual donor requests. Despite donors asking for
similar information, this was a very time-consuming process because
each donor had a different form to complete and the information
didn't provide learning opportunities for the nonprofits.
Today, with the IGP platform, nonprofits simply complete a
universal survey that collects key data points in less than an
hour. The result is a single scorecard report that succinctly
summarizes a nonprofit's outcomes and provides benchmark data that
can also help them compare their results and learn best practices
from others in their sector. Over 800 nonprofits around the country
have already started reporting through the IGP since early
2016.
"This would be a game-changer for the Chicago Urban League,"
said Shari Rogers, the Urban
League's CEO. "Not only would it transform the way we communicate
our impact, but the time savings would allow us to redirect our
resources from reporting to serving more individuals."
Each IGP nonprofit scorecard report provides another layer of
analysis on the program components or "genes" that will likely lead
to desired outcomes in any given area in the social sector. This is
powerful data that has never been centralized in one place and
strategically used for funding decision-making. It also helps
nonprofits determine the effectiveness of their programs.
"The genomic evaluation was incredibly helpful—it gave our
organization a sense of where we stand among our peers and how we
could improve," said Heather King,
Ph.D., Director of Evaluation at Spark, a national organization
that helps middle school students with career development. "I would
recommend the process, especially to organizations that are just
beginning to invest in program evaluation."
Corporate Philanthropy Leading the Way
With a frothy stock market and corporate earnings at a 13-year
high, American corporations are donating more money to charities
than ever before – an estimated $20
billion in 2017.2 At the same time,
corporate boards and shareholders are increasingly asking for data
to quantify the impact of these donations.
"The Allstate Foundation empowers people with confidence and
opportunities to live the life of their dreams," said Vicky Dinges, Allstate's senior vice president
of corporate responsibility. "We funded the Impact Genome Project
to help us understand what makes programs we support successful.
But it's more than that. The insights from the IGP platform ensure
that all of us are driving real and sustainable societal change,
which is ultimately the end goal."
"Evaluating data is at the heart of what we do at Moody's and
using this as a basis to assess the effectiveness of our nonprofit
partnerships strengthens our ability to drive social impact," said
Arlene Isaacs-Lowe, Global Head of
Corporate Social Responsibility and President, Moody's Foundation.
"This important initiative empowers nonprofits to demonstrate in a
rigorous, quantitative way how their work makes a real difference.
Donors will be able to better understand the effectiveness of their
funds and impact on the causes and communities they support."
"At Intel data powers everything we do. The standardized metrics
in the IGP platform will allow corporations to make more informed
investment and higher quality decisions while our community
partners can benefit from aligning on industry best practices,"
said Barbara Whye, Chief Diversity
and Inclusion Officer at Intel Corporation.
"It's critical that we maximize the impact of the funds donated
by our customers and use those aggregate dollars wisely to help the
communities we serve," said Christy Duncan
Anderson, Executive Director of the Albertsons Companies
Foundation. "The IGP allows us to do just that, which makes the IGP
transformative not only for the Albertsons Companies Foundation,
but for the entire philanthropic community and the charities."
Partnering with Nonprofit Industry Leaders
The Impact Genome Project is designed to make life easier for
charities too. Recently, the Impact Genome announced a
groundbreaking partnership with GuideStar®, the nonprofit sector's
leading marketplace for charitable data. Nonprofits can
register for free on www.impactgenome.org and complete the IGP
common report to obtain an IGP badge on their GuideStar profile.
Donors who see the badge will be able to learn more about the
organization's impact.
"GuideStar is pleased to add Impact Genome Project badges to our
nonprofit profiles," said Jacob
Harold, president and CEO of GuideStar. "IGP's analysis is
rooted in a compilation of thousands of studies; it is, therefore,
a reflection of the collective wisdom of the research community. It
is a win for the field to have leading corporate philanthropies
adopt the IGP standard. Aligning with a common approach is its own
kind of leadership. Together, this effort gives me hope that the
nonprofit community can continue to get smarter and get
better."
Enrolling in IGP
The IGP survey is free. Nonprofits can learn more about
reporting impact data or obtain an IGP badge at
https://www.impactgenome.org/registration.
About The Impact Genome Project®
The Impact Genome Project is a public-private initiative to
collect and code the largest evidence base about what works in
social change. The IGP is curated by Mission Measurement
Corp, the world leader in outcomes measurement. Further
information is available at www.impactgenome.org and
www.missionmeasurement.com.
About Albertsons Companies
Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug
retailers in the United States,
with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate
stores across 35 states and the District
of Columbia under 20 well-known banners including
Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb,
Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs, as well as meal
kit company Plated based in New York
City. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people
across the country live better lives by making a meaningful
difference, neighborhood by neighborhood. In 2016 alone, along with
the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave nearly
$300 million in food and financial
support. These efforts helped millions of people in the areas of
hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs
for people with disabilities and veterans outreach.
About The Allstate Foundation
Established in 1952, The Allstate Foundation is an independent
charitable organization made possible by subsidiaries of The
Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL). Through partnerships with
nonprofit organizations across the country, The Allstate Foundation
brings the relationships, reputation and resources of Allstate to
support innovative and lasting solutions that enhance people's
well-being and prosperity. With a focus on building financial
independence for domestic violence survivors, empowering youth and
celebrating the charitable community involvement of Allstate agency
owners and employees, The Allstate Foundation works to bring out
the good in people's lives. For more information, visit
www.AllstateFoundation.org.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. is committed to advancing education, strengthening
communities and improving lives. We have a long history of
investing in projects that create learning opportunities, promote
academic and economic achievement, and address community needs. Our
AT&T Aspire initiative uses innovation in education to drive
student success in school and beyond. With a financial commitment
of $400 million since 2008, AT&T
is leveraging technology, relationships and social innovation to
help all students make their biggest dreams a reality.
About Intel
Intel expands the boundaries of technology to make the most
amazing experiences possible. Information about Intel can be found
at newsroom.intel.com and intel.com. Intel has a
long-standing commitment to corporate social responsibility, built
on a strong foundation of transparency, governance, and ethics that
creates value for Intel and our stockholders. Each year, we release
a comprehensive report about our efforts in environmental
sustainability, supply chain responsibility, diversity and
inclusion, and social impact in support of our commitment to
transparency and accountability.
About Moody's
Moody's is an essential component of the global capital markets,
providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis that
contribute to transparent and integrated financial markets. Moody's
Corporation is the parent company of Moody's Investors Service,
which provides credit ratings and research covering debt
instruments and securities, and Moody's Analytics, which offers
leading-edge software, advisory services and research for credit
and economic analysis and financial risk management. The
corporation, which reported revenue of $2
billion in 2017, employs approximately 11,900 people
worldwide and maintains a presence in 41 countries. Further
information is available at www.moodys.com. Moody's believes in a
world where more people have access to opportunity, and where
everyone has what they need to grow and thrive. Learn more about
our efforts to open the door to a better future at
www.moodys.com/csr.
About T. Rowe Price
Founded in 1937, Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. is a
global investment management organization with more than
$1 trillion in assets under
management. The organization provides a broad array of mutual
funds, subadvisory services, and separate account management for
individual and institutional investors, retirement plans, and
financial intermediaries. T. Rowe
Price's disciplined, risk-aware investment approach focuses
on diversification, style consistency, and fundamental research.
The T. Rowe Price Foundation works closely with nonprofit and
community leaders to understand areas of greatest need and invest
in innovative solutions that improve outcomes for youth, empower
individuals, and enrich communities. Since 1981, the Foundation has
distributed more than $100 million in
direct grants and matching contributions. For more information,
visit troweprice.com.
1 Based on data from the Center for Effective
Philanthropy and the Foundation Center
2
http://cecp.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Giving-in-Numbers-Infographic-2017.pdf?redirect=no
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SOURCE The Allstate Foundation; Impact Genome Project