Leading Corporate Philanthropies Announce New Reporting Standard That Could Save the Nonprofit Sector $1.2 Billion Annually

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

²http://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