Key updates to the B4SI Framework and Impact Toolkit
Over more than 30 years, the B4SI Framework has evolved thanks to the work of its Network, providing companies with the global standard to manage and measure corporate social impact.
Never before have social teams in businesses been asked more clearly not just to focus on investment, but on impact measurement.
- Internally, impact is the evidence of the effectiveness of those investments to unlock innovation, reinforce business cases by tying investment to material issues, and provide the credibility that senior management and employees ask for.
- Externally, evidence-based impact is the strongest way in which investment can reinforce social license.
That can be the difference between securing a contract or not or maintaining access to new markets. Furthermore, regulators and investors increasingly ask for evidence of impact. Inputs are no longer enough.
All these reasons together, boil down to resilience and growth. Impact measurement can lower your cost of capital, strengthen your workforce, and enable faster innovation. Yet we know from our Benchmark data that many companies are not measuring impact yet, or only do so for some areas or projects
To enable companies to measure impact more effectively, we are excited to announce two key updates:
Re-launch of the B4SI Impact Toolkit
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to strengthen your existing approach, this toolkit provides the practical support you need to achieve meaningful impact measurement.
With new and refreshed tools, the Toolkit enables companies to:
- define the impact their initiatives can deliver,
- identify robust indicators to measure progress,
- capture reliable data jointly with partners,
- turn insights into compelling narratives that showcase the true value of their work.
Inclusion of Natural Capital indicators
As the visibility of how social and environmental impacts are interconnected grows, and frameworks such as TNFD and TISFD bring approaches to managing Nature and Social impacts together, B4SI members are increasing the portion of social investments that have an intentional positive impact on Nature.
To embed impact measurement for these social investments in line with the B4SI Framework, we convened the global Network to form a Working Group on Natural Capital. With 30 companies from multiple sectors and regions, the Working Group developed categories and indicators to incorporate Nature as an area of impact in the B4SI Framework.
These changes are now reflected on the refreshed Toolkit, as well as on the guidance materials for each B4SI Route: Community Investment, Business Innovation and Social Procurement.
B4SI members can already access the refreshed toolkit and guidance directly on the B4SI Hub.
Contact your Account Manager or the B4SI team at mail@b4si.net to learn more about how these developments can help you measure impact more effectively.