LBG Canada Blog

There is increasing interest in the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology in Canada. As Canada’s leader in SROI training and analysis, SiMPACT Strategy Group is seen as an active contributor to this thriving agenda and important cross-sector conversation.  SiMPACT is represented on the international methodology committee organized by The SROI Network and regularly participates in activities designed to strengthen the international network. 

Social finance investors, government and foundations are increasingly seeking to understand social value creation and community organizations are striving to demonstrate the value of their work.  Corporations are seeking to value the impact of community investments with 74% of LBG Canada companies have expressing a desire to learn more about SROI. 

SiMPACT’s work in SROI is a blend of consulting, capacity-building across all sectors, accreditation training for professionals and housing the SROI Canada Secretariat. 

SROI Canada is a non-profit organization established to advance the SROI Canada methodology in Canada.  Other founding partners include the City of Calgary, Saskatchewan Abilities Council and Social Capital Partners in Toronto.  As the acting SROI Canada secretariat, SiMPACT manages www.sroi-canada.ca, promotes discussion on linked in, organizes accreditation training and manages a database of financial proxies. For access to the financial proxy database, contact Anne Miller.

SROI accreditation courses are regularly held in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.  Information is available on the SROI Canada website http://www.sroi-canada.ca/accreditation/accreditation.html.

In addition, SiMPACT has been working with the Region of Waterloo to value their STEP Home homelessness initiatives through an SROI lens.  We are working with Humewood House in Toronto to use SROI to demonstrate the value of investment in supporting pregnant and parenting teens through their pregnancies, to stabilize their circumstances and into the future.

 In Alberta, SiMPACT has begun the third year of a project with the Safe Communities Secretariat, Alberta Justice, to integrate the SROI methodology into the evaluation frameworks of 88 crime prevention pilot projects.  This large-scale project has involved training of project managers and program staff, ongoing and review of SROI work, research and inter-project coordination in development of financial proxies.

The above is a snapshot of SiMPACT's recent SROI work. For more information about SROI, please contact Stephanie or Anne.

Both Maclean’s Magazine and Corporate Knights have released their “top 50” companies in the field of corporate responsibility, and several LBG Canada companies made the annual listings:

Corporate Knights - The 2012 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada:

• RBC
• Enbridge
• ENMAX
• Nexen
• Suncor
• Talisman Energy
• TD Bank Group
• Hydro-Quebec
• Cenovus Energy
• BC Hydro
• IAMGOLD Corp.
• TransCanada

Maclean’s Magazine & Sustainalytics – 50 Most Socially Responsible Corporations 2012:

• TD Bank Group
• CIBC
• RBC
• Cenovus
• Nexen
• Suncor Energy
• Talisman Energy
• IAMGOLD Corp.
• TELUS
• Gildan Activewear

LBG Canada congratulates our fellow companies on the well-deserved recognition, demonstrating their leadership as corporate citizens and their continued commitment to set the highest standard in community investment in Canada.

Each year LBG Canada holds its Annual Benchmarking Meeting to discuss community investment trends with LBG Canada companies. This year’s meeting is taking place April 18 & 19 in Calgary and representing over 40 Canadian companies of various industries from oil & gas to retail.

The Benchmarking Meeting allows the network of companies an opportunity to discover what community investment and employee volunteering & giving program management trends are, within their industry and across the LBG Canada group as a whole.

The data for the Annual Benchmarking Meeting is collected through surveys and an annual audit that SiMPACT Strategy Group (SiMPACT), the facilitator of LBG Canada, conducts with each LBG Canada company. SiMPACT analyzes different approaches to portfolio management, for example, decision-making thresholds, inclusion of communications resources for flagship projects and effectiveness of employee volunteering programs.

Along with the Annual Benchmarking Meeting, SiMPACT also uses the annual audit and the surveys to create a customized Insights & Opportunities report for each LBG Canada company. The report offers in-depth insights into each LBG Canada company’s community investment portfolio highlighting both strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Ultimately, the results gleaned from the Annual Benchmarking Meeting and the customized Insights & Opportunities report ensure community investment is understood as a valuable and strategic activity by all LBG Canada companies – and sets the highest standard for management, performance measurement and reporting in Canada.

First Calgary Financial has embarked on a new journey, one filled with promises and commitments not only to their stakeholders, but to each other as employees and concerned corporate citizens. 

Historically, corporate social responsibly (CSR) initiatives have been led by a single department at First Calgary Financial - responsible for reporting, implementation and communication.  In the past year, the Board and Executive team underwent a strategic planning process to create a new five year strategic plan as well as a document containing the organization’s CSR commitments. While they underwent this process, they identified countless overlaps and began to realize how CSR was inseparable from their strategic plan.  As a result, the Executive Team crafted a strategic plan that embedded their CSR commitments into the core business functions and decision-making. Essentially, their strategic plan is their CSR document.

The strategic plan is based on three promises: social, environmental and economic. The three promises are together incorporated into First Calgary Financial’s decision-making framework. “CSR is not one department’s role; it’s how we do business,” states Dani DeBoice, Director of Corporate Citizenship. Now, the company’s economics are understood not only in financial terms, but also within social and environmental contexts. 

Social Promise: We have a deep respect for those who are committed to bettering the lives of those around us. As a socially aware organization, we make thoughtful choices that consider how our members, employees and communities are affected. It's a promise about people. It's who we are.

Although the Board and Executives were visionary about drafting these promises, they questioned how they were going to measure success. Eventually, SiMPACT was approached to identify metrics that will inform a social return on investment (SROI) valuation of the social promise commitments.

By conducting an SROI, First Calgary Financial is aiming to clearly understand the value of their business services contributing to achieving these promises. For example, is a $5 million line of credit to the Calgary Homeless Foundation creating a return for society that goes beyond just the value of the donation of the interest accrued back to the non-profit? What opportunities exist to further develop the local social finance agenda?  Over the next five years, key performance metrics will be established to capture and measure the results.

From an LBG Canada perspective, the social promise has elevated the role of community investment, clearly positioning investing in community as one key step on a spectrum of social impact. In addition, the LBG Canada approach enables First Calgary Financial to comfortably speak about the business and community value, using project and portfolio-specific data to demonstrate how their investments are a part of their larger social promise.

Overall, the strategic plan is an inspiring, forward thinking document.  First Calgary Financial hopes to see a more engaged, knowledgeable employee base with a stronger understanding of how these promises tie into everyday business practices and a stronger Calgary community. “By stating these promises, employees are empowered. We are actively looking for ways to leverage our business practices to achieve these promises to the best of our ability,” adds DeBoice. “In five years, we will be able to articulate our social impact and return proudly.”

Download the First Calgary Financial 2011-2015 Strategic Plan Highlights for more information.  

In light of recent interest in SROI, SiMPACT shares our response to the social implications of the #torontobudget brought forward by the author Margaret Atwood in the article: Margaret Atwood fights against closure of Toronto libraries

Aug.8, 2011

An excellent article that articulates the social implications surrounding financial cut-backs.  Libraries and other cultural centers are more than just places of opportunity. They bring people together to create community cohesion that is necessary and vital for many individuals, families and those who are at-risk of social isolation.

Although the 350+ people who patiently waited to speak to Mayor Ford at the Toronto budget hearing spoke from their heart, it seems there is an assumption being made that social value can’t be quantified. We disagree.

Increasing use of the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology illustrates how to value the results of investment in social programs and infrastructure that supports and strengthens communities.  An SROI of a library, for example, would examine three forms of value -  financial, social and environmental.  The municipality of Calgary for example, has been committed to a triple bottom line since 2005, and is now taking steps to include an assessment of social and environmental value, alongside financial value, in all aspects of corporate decision-making.

It is only when you integrate the three elements of sustainability impact (financial, social, environmental) that a more complete picture of value creation is formed. Although the City of Toronto has some hard decisions ahead, there are tools that can value the implications of budget cut-backs in terms that illustrate that cost and value are linked but not interchangeable.  These tools will assist any leader to ensure that long term strength is not jeopardized by short term decision-making.