Reporting on Community Engagement and Investment

Abstract

While more and more companies produce reports that emphasize the importance of being a good “community citizen” and effectively managing their relationships with community members and the community environment, those same reports often reflect difficulties in identifying and describing specific goals for community involvement and the impact that company activities are having on the community. As with all aspects of sustainability reporting, practices of companies regarding their disclosures relating to community engagement and investment have been evolving as time has passed and stakeholder interest in such activities has increased. The Sustainability Reporting Standards developed by the Global Reporting Initiative include several types of disclosure categories that cover various aspects of community involvement, investment and impact including disclosures regarding the impact that investments and other support of infrastructure and local services by an organization has had on its stakeholders and the economy, community investment activities, engagement with local communities; the actual and potential negative impacts of organizational actions on local communities and the organization’s managerial approach to community issues. A framework for reporting promoted by the London Benchmarking Group is emerging as an effective tool for quantifying and organizing information about corporate community investment activities and, most importantly, assessing and reporting on the impact of corporate relationships with communities and how to manage it.