Corporate Social Responsbility Philanthropy Annual Report Samples

Should your company publish a community philanthropy investment / Corporate Social Responsibility annual report?

2/28/2019

What do Exxon Mobile, Toyota, Coca Cola Berkshire Hathaway, and Apple all have in common? In addition to being some of the most successful companies in world history, they are all also leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility. Entire teams are deployed to build strategic implementation plans to invest in the communities they serve. They develop their community investment plans and corporate philanthropy alongside the highest levels of leadership and produce annual reports to measure, monitor, and report on their social impacts just as they would report on financial returns to investors.

93 percent of the world's largest companies publish an annual report that details community investment and social responsibility initiatives.

You may already guess we absolutely think every company should have a community investment plan -- but should you also plan to publish an impact report? Don't overthink it. A community impact report could be a small as a quick letter to stakeholders with some facts and figures about philanthropy and volunteerism for year. Or, on the complete other end of the spectrum, you could publish a full multi-page, professionally produced report that holds your company accountable to your commitment to the communities you serve year to year.

Key questions to consider when building out a Philanthropy / CSR / Impact / Community Investment annual report:

Do you want the report to show full measurements on Corporate Social Responsibility progress or do you just want to report on basic information on community affairs and local philanthropy projects?
Will you report details on how you contributed and your policies of why you do it?
Will your report provide measured data or just anecdotes?
Will your company report on future goals and past practices?
Will you include challenges and setbacks as well as good news?
Will you integrate the community impact findings into your general financial annual report?

Read more about what an annual report could include in Boston College's helpful "How to Read a Corporate Social Responsbility Report" guide.

Don't know where to start?
Take a cue from American Express, CISCO, Blue Cross Blue Shield and others in the sample reports we've compiled for you below. When you take a look at the reports, consider all the different ways companies can measure impact, philanthropy, and achieve their financial goals while doing it.