Have you been asked to prove the ROI for your social impact programs? You’re not alone.
Two thirds of corporate social responsibility (CSR) professionals say they feel pressured to measure the impact of their work and to build a formal business case, according to the 7th Annual CSR Insights Report from ACCP and Blackbaud YourCause.
At Pyxera Global, we understand that need. Our work with companies, nonprofits, and communities is designed and delivered with metrics in mind. This begins with working sessions, where we sit with clients to identify opportunities for impact measurement.
We act as an extension of their teams, bringing proven research methods guided by a theory of change to the table. The goal is to ensure the measurement approach is practical, program centric and technically robust. It also means understanding broader corporate goals so CSR professionals can bring data to their leaders about how these initiatives move the needle on what’s most important to them.
The Value of Skills-based Volunteerism
Benevity’s State of Corporate Purpose 2026 highlights the top reasons why companies invest in purpose-related work: Corporate Reputation and Trust (91%), Employee Engagement (87%), Local Brand Reputation (86%) and Talent Attraction and Retention (86%). This data reinforces why so many CSR professionals invest in skills-based volunteerism (SBV) programs, which are proven to enhance employees’ skill sets while also improving connectedness with the company. SBV strengthens employees’ problem-solving, stakeholder management, and influence skills by placing them in real-world settings that demand creativity, adaptability, and leadership beyond their formal role.
For many corporate partners, the value of measurement goes well beyond employee engagement and extends to understanding how volunteer experiences contribute to leadership pipeline development. The ultimate question is not simply whether employees enjoyed the SBV experience; it is whether the capabilities they developed during the engagement transfer back into the workplace. By measuring changes in leadership behaviors, functional capabilities, collaboration, and communication, companies can better understand how volunteer experiences contribute to their workforce development goals.
Here’s an example. A Fortune 500 company has identified a group of employees who are considered to have high potential for management roles longer term. They are located in different regions and come from an array of departments and functional areas. Working with Pyxera Global, the company engages the group in a strategy project with a food bank seeking to scale its operations to meet the growing community need. The project will be done remotely over a period of six months and evaluated both through the successful completion of the work product and on the positive achievement of the following three employee-focused categories:
Functional & Technical Skills
Employees come to the project being asked to share their skills in a new context, both those they use daily and others that might not be relevant to their current roles. In addition to being given the chance to build on these skills, they find themselves in an innovative space to test new ideas and build new muscles. For example, a financial analyst might find herself collaborating on ways to optimize distribution for the growing operation, and a marketer might be tasked with helping with the fundraising plan. In addition to giving them experience in strategic planning, the project challenges employees to deploy and grow skills in a new context.
Leadership Development
The project involves establishing working teams made up of people from the company and the food bank, with co-leaders being tapped for each group. Every month, the leaders present progress back to the entire cohort, bringing both results and challenges forward for discussion. This opportunity helps them build their professional presence, public speaking and problem-solving skills, all of which they will need if they advance into management roles.
Experiential Learning and Growth
As the project unfolds, employees collaborate with each other and their nonprofit partners to develop a new strategy. They bring ideas to the table, discuss options and barriers, and get to know each other. They ask questions to better understand the nonprofit context, including the unique challenges the leaders face. These conversations rely heavily on the ability to connect with other people and help them build increased emotional intelligence.
At the conclusion of the project, employees report having a deeper understanding of themselves, the nonprofit and the community need. They bring new skills back to their roles while better understanding the true value of what they do every day. They have stronger relationships with others in the company and feel more connected to the company’s values.
How do we know this? It’s measurable. In the initial working sessions with the client and nonprofit, metrics and processes were identified and put into place to measure success, beginning with the end in mind (through surveys, interviews and longer-term follow-ups). The resulting data provides CSR as well as HR professionals with reliable ROI, including metrics that estimate the contribution of the program toward increased employee retention; increased employee growth in roles, responsibilities and leadership; improved skills; and a more cohesive company culture that values cross-company collaboration.
Armed with data, leaders can prove the case, showing the powerful impact of the strategic programming they have invested in and how it directly ties to corporate goals. What’s more, understanding and tracking impact can help companies create their own measurement frameworks over time. And Pyxera Global is here to help.
