LBG Canada Blog

SPONSORIUM and SiMPACT Strategy Group form Unique Partnership

Erin L - Monday, October 22, 2012

Aim to Help Canadian Companies Improve Community Investment Management

22/10/12 MONTREAL-CALGARY – SPONSORIUM, a global company and SiMPACT Strategy Group (SIMPACT), facilitator of LBG Canada, have created a new strategic alliance to address the needs of corporations as they become more involved within their communities in Canada and abroad. SPONSORIUM, a cloud-based community investment tool provider, and SiMPACT Strategy Group a specialist consultancy focused on measuring community and social impact, are partnering to deliver greater efficiency and analysis into the field of community investment. SiMPACT is facilitator of LBG Canada, a growing network of companies seeking to positively impact communities through their community investment programs.

“Our society needs great corporate citizens. Companies have the ability to change lives on a big scale, but they need to be able to show improvement in their business at the same time. Using the SPONSORIUM tool and the strategic guidance of SiMPACT and LBG Canada allows corporations to gain time, and to focus on value-added tasks, which ultimately benefits the various communities,” said Paul Pednault, Founder and President of SPONSORIUM.

In this respect, SPONSORIUM as a partner with LBG Canada will render workflow for corporate citizens easier, dramatically improving the functions of analyzing, managing and reporting their community investment initiatives. Many LBG Canada companies are taking advantage of PerforMind™, SPONSORIUM’s online Community Investment Management System, enabling them to better administer and manage funding requests, facilitate the approval process and enhance reporting of program objectives.

The PerforMind™ tool will simplify the data collection process for the annual audit and benchmarking process that is currently coordinated through LBG Canada.

“We all recognized early on in discussions that the system strengthens the community investment programs for our mutual clients,” Mr. Pednault stated.

Under this new partnership, SPONSORIUM is currently developing a reporting function created specifically to support LBG Canada companies and streamline the data collection process. With one click, SPONSORIUM clients are able to easily export the required fields for benchmarking. Specific fields pertaining to LBG Canada methodology can easily be added and tracked throughout the year, and incorporated into this reporting function.

SiMPACT Strategy Group looks forward to these updates being completed in advance of the 2013 annual audit of LBG Canada member companies.

“Together with SPONSORIUM, we value our shared commitment to ensuring LBG Canada companies continue to achieve the highest standard in community investment,” said Stephanie Robertson, President and Founder of SiMPACT Strategy Group and facilitator of LBG Canada.

About LBG Canada

LBG (London Benchmarking Group) Canada is a network of companies seeking to maximize the impact of community investment – for society and for the business. Together, LBG Canada companies set the highest standard in community investment management, performance measurement and reporting in Canada.

By joining LBG Canada, companies benefit from an annual audit to ensure community investment results are reported with greater credibility and transparency. Along with access to emerging community investment management trends and best practice, LBG Canada companies access data and practical tools that inform their approach to maximizing the impact of investments. The end result is increased ability to demonstrate the strength of community partnerships and to ultimately achieve measurable value.

LBG Canada is facilitated by SiMPACT Strategy Group, a specialist consultancy focused on measuring community and social impact.

About SPONSORIUM

SPONSORIUM provides Community Investment and Sponsorship Management tools in more than 30 countries. The PerforMind™ tool allows corporations to objectively and efficiently evaluate, manage and report on upcoming and current partnerships. SPONSORIUM empowers community investment professionals to dedicate their time on helping communities and value-added tasks, not clerical work.

SPONSORIUM is independent from consulting. It is privately funded, product-oriented and focuses on knowledge transfer. SPONSORIUM has invested more than any other in research and development and offers the ultimate online management tool for engaging in corporate citizenship. Its PerforMind™ tool is constantly evolving as result of suggestions brought up by its elite network of users from around the world.

LBG Canada Companies among the “Top 50” in Canada

Erin L - Monday, June 25, 2012

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.

Gearing up to Benchmark Community Investment in Canada

Erin L - Wednesday, February 15, 2012

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.

Our Response to AB Venture article: Return on Investment: The Give and Get Play

Erin L - Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Check out the article first, and let us know what you think. http://tinyurl.com/3mu9cyy

Read our response:

Those 45% of executives are missing out on a great opportunity. LBG Canada companies (www.lbg-canada.ca) believe if you know the motivations behind your corporate community investments, you will understand the benefits for both the community and business better.

Brett Wilson did a great job explaining the benefits of philanthropic giving, but there are also social and commercial investments which provide both community and business benefits as well. In LBG Canada terms, social investment requires a longer term commitment by the business and results in more impactful change over time (i.e- improving literacy in a community, which in turn might increase the potential pool of employees available to the business in the future). On the other hand, commercial investments are designed to address a business problem. They are designed to create real community value, in order to address the business issue at hand.

36 Canadian companies are part of LBG Canada. Over the past four years of LBG Canada activity, there has been a noticeable shift in how companies are investing into the community. In 2010, philanthropic investments made up 26% of the investment portfolio, a significant increase from 9% in 2006. Some might be surprised to hear that social investments are the largest piece of the pie at 54%, with commercially-motivated investments landing at 19% in 2010. Whatever drives the motivation behind a community investment, they all have the potential for a true “give-and-get” partnership.

LBG Canada Diversity - From Coast to Coast

Erin L - Monday, May 09, 2011

With the recent addition of Emera, which is located in Nova Scotia, LBG Canada companies now span across the country, stretching from the West Coast to the East Coast.

This is also the first year that LBG Canada is bilingual with the inclusion of companies like Hydro-Québec. With the help of translation services and two bilingual staff at SiMPACT Strategy Group, the benchmarking process is now available in both English and French.

Over the next year, LBG Canada looks forward to continuing to expand our horizons nationally, and growing the community of companies to further diversify the benchmarking results.

LBG Canada