December news and season’s greetings from LBG Canada!

Season’s greetings from LBG Canada! We hope that you, your teams and your families have a wonderful holiday and a much needed break. We will also be taking some time to recharge – note that the SiMPACT office will be closed beginning December 24 and returning January 4.

Annual Benchmarking Cycle

It’s almost that time of year again! For LBG Canada companies with a fiscal year end of October 31 or December 31, audit season is almost (or already) upon us. Many companies in the LBG Canada network have indicated that their reporting requirements have changed or increased this year, and we want to ensure everyone all of the tools and information they need for a smooth audit process. Some tips:

• Stay tuned for surveys in January. LBG Canada’s Community Investment, Employee Giving, Employee Volunteering and Indigenous Benchmarking surveys allow us to collect critical information for the benchmarking process and equip you with insightful peer data analysis. These will be sent out in January – please ensure that your company completes them!
• Review your reporting needs and deadlines. Corporate reporting requirements have evolved, and for many companies this means an earlier deadline for submitting CI information. If your reporting deadlines have changed please be sure to let us know so that we can deliver your audit on the schedule that works for you. And if other requirements have changed (e.g. increased emphasis on DE&I, COVID-19 response), we can be sure to build that into the audit process.
• Know that we can start the audit process sooner. If you’d like to get a head start on your audit, we can get the ball rolling early! Even if your data set is not 100% complete, feel free to get in touch and we can start working with the information you have available.

On the Radar

• Social Value & SROI Training: Looking to measure your organization’s SROI? Social Value Canada offers Social Value & SROI Accreditation Practitioner Training to help you take your social impact work to the next level! February registration is now open – course runs February 9, 11, 16, 18 and 23.
• ISO Standard 26000 on Corporate Social Responsibility: Those interested and familiar with the International Standards Organization (ISO) might be aware of ISO 26000 – the international standard on corporate responsibility. The ISO reviews each standard every five years, and a review of ISO 26000 is current underway. Learn more or provide feedback by January 22, 2021.
• Benevity Webinar: Join Benevity on January 13 for their “Turning Statements Into Action” webinar, which will offer strategies to keep racial justice and equity top-of-mind in 2021. This webinar will share guidance on how to engage your employees in these crucial conversations – and move your organization beyond just statements to an ongoing commitment to change and action.

Bright Ideas

Imagine Canada – Wake up Call Report: In late November, Imagine Canada released a report, Wake Up Call: Navigating New Pathways for Corporate Community Investment in Canada. This study brings together emerging trends in community investment driven by the pandemic and the evolving social and economic landscape. It also offers meaningful insights into how companies can strategically address these new challenges to build back better. The ten key trends identified include:

1. The Uneven Pandemic: Profound inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19
2. Time for Racial Justice: The role of companies in supporting racial equity
3. The Great Cataclysm: Non-profits during COVID-19
4. The Constant Pivot: COVID-19 reaped a fertile ground for non-profit innovation
5. Unrestricted Funding during COVID-19: Building on what’s worked
6. Companies Stepped Up: Funding flowed during COVID-19 but could be cut-off
7. Engaging Virtual Employees: New challenges, new opportunities
8. The CEO as Social Advocate: Increasing expectations on Corporate Canada
9. Partnering for Impact: Problems too big to tackle on our own
10. COVID-19 and Climate Change: Learning from the pandemic

Volunteer Canada: Volunteer Canada, in collaboration with Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada (VMPC) and spinktank, conducted a survey of non-profit organizations and volunteers in October 2020 to better understand how volunteer engagement has been affected by the continuing pandemic, with recommendations for the months ahead.

Volunteer Programs that Employees Can Get Excited About: Across society, volunteerism has been stagnant or trending slightly downward in recent years. In the corporate world, however, it has been on the rise. In fact, paid time off for volunteering is one of the few employee benefits that has increased significantly over the past five years.

The benefits of well-designed corporate volunteer programs have been clearly established: they boost productivity, increase employee engagement, and improve hiring and retention, to name just a few.

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) Merger: Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and climate change challenges, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in November announced their plan to merge into one organisation — the Value Reporting Foundation — to work towards a comprehensive reporting framework long demanded by investors and corporates.