Sector-wide impact for trade associations

Organisations we work with

What you get

• Practical support for members

  A sector framework, templates and guidance that members can use straight away

• Sector-wide impact reporting

  Aggregated figures that show what your sector contributes, while respecting member confidentiality

• A benchmark that motivates

  Members see where they stand compared with peers and what they can improve

• Stronger member value

  Impact support as a concrete reason to be a member

• Evidence for policy discussions

  Reliable sector data to engage with government on the basis of facts

Why we do what we do

Read the film as text

1. We all want to know
2. our place in the world.
3. Thin grey lines join dots into a web.
4. We like to believe that what we do is part of something larger.
5. It is.
6. Together we make our surroundings, our brands, our communities.
7. We shape the work of others, as they shape ours.
8. The web grows dense.
9. We live in one web of cause and consequence.
10. Each path tells a story, part of a larger narrative.
11. A system of meaning.
12. So what is our impact?
13. Whose lives do we touch?
14. What changed? For whom? How much? And what part was ours?
15. Intended or not, for better or worse.
16. Knowing that changes what you do next.
17. A dark line draws a path through the web. Impact management helps you see it, steer it, and use it.
18. A large word: Lead. A purple path runs through the web. Lead with purpose, and fund your mission.
19. A large word: Improve. A green path runs through the web. Learn what doesn’t work and design for better.
20. A large word: Engage. A blue-green path runs through the web. Share your story, and bring others into it.
21. A large word: Account. A blue path runs through the web. State your claim, and prove it.
22. A large word: Discover. A yellow path runs through the web. Find your next impact before it happens.
23. “How do you measure impact?”
24. It sounds hard.
25. It isn’t.
26. It’s not about the how.
27. It’s about
28. Portraits of people fill the screen.
29. A large word: Who.
30. About rights-holders, whose lives are touched.
31. And stakeholders, whose choices shape them.
32. The people stand side by side, at the same height. A wave of colour runs through the web. Every voice, every perspective, equally weighed.
33. The web turns many colours. Pluriform and equivalent.
34. Who determines what.
35. And what determines how.
36. That’s it. No more, no less.
37. We count what can be counted, and listen to the rest.
38. Coloured paths wind across the web. We find the stories that connect the dots, and make sense of the whole.
39. We love our craft:
40. to ask the questions,
41. to measure what matters,
42. and narrate what works.
43. One dark path remains. Let’s reveal your path.
44. The word narrate, with the line: impact in numbers and stories.

What we often hear

• “Customers and banks ask our members for sustainability reporting, but members lack the means.”

  We develop shared frameworks and tools, aligned with the VSME where possible, that members can adopt without major investment

• “Government asks for sector figures, but member data is too varied to add up.”

  We design common indicators that allow aggregation while respecting differences between members and commercial sensitivities

• “Members ask what their fee actually gets them.”

  We help you develop impact services that offer members tangible value straight away

• “New regulation is coming, and we lack the evidence to argue for proportionate rules.”

  We help you build the data that substantiates your position and shows what the sector contributes to society

What you may be wondering

• Our members no longer fall under the CSRD. Is this still needed?

  Mostly not as a legal duty: after the Omnibus the CSRD only applies to large companies. Customers and banks will keep asking questions. A shared format then saves members work.

• Does a sector benchmark stay confidential?

  Yes. We aggregate figures and write down definitions and sources. So the sector figure can be checked without sharing member data.

• Will members take part?

  We start with a few members and with tools they can adopt without a big investment. If it works there, others follow more easily.

To read

• Your customer sends a sustainability questionnaire. Where do you start?

  A large customer wants figures about your company, with a deadline. This is how we approach it: answer honestly, and keep the work for the next customer.