Introduction
On June 28th, 2022 NY NOW hosted a webinar titled “Integrating Generosity into Social Impact-Driven Brand Stories,” the second of a three-part social impact series titled “Balancing People, Planet, and Profit.” The webinar was hosted and moderated by NY NOW’s Senior Producer Dondrill Glover, with special guest and presenter, Elizabeth (Liz) Ngonzi, Founder and CEO of The International Social Impact Institute® (ISII). The discussion aimed to help participants integrate social impact into their brand’s mission statement, showcasing The ISII’s Impact Story Development Framework, with practical examples.
Webinar Overview
Building upon the first webinar in the series, the second session focused on helping participants identify which aspects of the social impact equation – people, profit and/or planet – they wanted to incorporate into their brand’s mission. Liz Ngonzi shared case studies involving organizations that have successfully developed purpose-driven mission statements and corresponding brand stories. She emphasized the importance of having clear values that drive your brand’s story; this enables companies to attract aligned stakeholders, including consumers, investors, and philanthropic partners.
The case studies illustrated the importance of having a mission statement that broadly aligns with the organization’s work and core values. One should be able to draw a direct line from the organization’s mission to individual behaviors, core values, and key partnerships, including those with philanthropic partners. Liz and Dondrill highlighted four main elements that are critical for impact-driven mission statements:
- Identifying the challenge
- Offering solutions
- Showing impact
- Providing a call to action
These four components should be clear and recognizable in an impact-driven mission statement and brand story. Liz shared multiple real world examples of this template in practice, demonstrating the benefits of this approach for an organization’s success.
Conclusion
Liz concluded the discussion by highlighting how the principles summarized here can affect stakeholder engagement, most importantly by helping an organization identify and attract stakeholders whose core values are aligned with its own. The template offered by ISII provides meaningful advantages, and the speakers highlighted simple and straightforward ways to get started building a social impact-driven mission statement and brand story.
Watch the recording of Part 2 HERE
Part 3 of the Balancing People, Planet, and Profit Series will be coming in November 2022!