7 Questions for Your CSR Software Vendor | CyberGrants

The right corporate social responsibility program software can substantially improve employee engagement and workplace pride, boost productivity, reduce HR costs, generate positive brand awareness, and drive top-line and bottom-line growth. 

But to reap the full benefits of your corporate giving solution, your programs must be well-designed, employee-centric, easily configurable, easy to use and administer, scalable, secure, diverse, and inclusive, while remaining fully compliant with relevant rules and regulations. You need a solution that supports your program today and inspires innovation as your initiatives grow.

Does it all seem a little daunting? We get that.

Whether managing your company's corporate social responsibilities is your primary role, or not, having the right partner and software can help drive awareness, build employee engagement, and increase your impact to giving ratio to meet and exceed your goals. In-house teams often flounder under the weight of routine paperwork and administration alone, not to mention the opportunity for risk in non-compliance. It’s for those reasons and many more that companies turn to CSR software to help manage the process for them.

Leverage Corporate Social Responsibility Software for Transformational Results

Just as companies outsource non-core functions, corporations are increasingly utilizing CSR software to help them bring all of their corporate philanthropic efforts into one synergistic system. These systems handle routine tasks to streamline and automate the grant-making process, engage employees by allowing them to give and innovate with new programs, make volunteer programs a success, and keep the momentum going year-round, ensuring your efforts across each are maximized.

When you’re looking to find the right partner to power your corporate social responsibility programs, it’s important to create a selection process to ensure you’re asking the right questions, assessing the platform for your business’s needs, driving internal buy-in, and ensuring they are a true partner versus just another transaction. We’re here to help you through this process, so take a look at some of the most important questions to ask yourself and the potential vendor as you are assessing your options and submitting an RFP.

7 Questions to Ask Prospective Social Impact Partners

How do you identify a CSR technology partner who'll provide the support you need and empower your company to be a strong force for social change? Here are 7 questions  to consider when assessing vendors:

1. Does your solution have the flexibility to meet my unique program needs with the ability to scale?

What to look for: Enhanced Configuration Tools

Find a flexible and configurable system that allows you to speak to your employees the way you want to. From incorporating your branding elements to defining the employee match rules organization eligibility rules, you should be empowered to create a unique employee experience.

2. How can your solution add value across our organization, especially with stakeholders in other departments?

What to look for: Integrated Disbursements & Vetting Services

To say that services play a huge role in a corporate philanthropy program is an understatement. From payments processing to compliance and vetting services to contact center services, you’ll need to ensure that all bases are covered. So make sure you account for the necessary services to ensure a successful corporate philanthropy program.

3. Do you have proven success facilitating rapid response programs as priorities shift or urgent needs arise?

What to look for: Agile Methodology & Innovative Mindset

As your company grows, your philanthropic goals will grow and change as well. Adding new programs like employee giving campaigns, volunteering programs, and matching gift programs is a cinch with fully integrated philanthropy software.

4. Is there a single source of truth to measure and track my social impact analytics across all my programs?

What to look for: Unified Data Warehouse

Explore your data for more impactful programs. Prioritize sophisticated analytics and reporting functionalities to provide intuitive and engaging feedback through automated or ad hoc reports you can’t aggregate yourself.

5. How do you make programs more accessible and engaging for my employees, who are both on-site and remote?

What to look for: Mobile Responsiveness

People won’t use the program if it’s not easy to use. Increase the chances of employee participation with an intuitive system that allows admins and end-users to seamlessly plan, manage and participate in programs from anywhere. From social posts to email, leader boards, teams and gamification enlist the help of an automated system to reach your entire company.

6. How will we know that all nonprofits are vetted with up-to-date information, such as status, address and payment details?

What to look for: Nonprofit Support Portal

Non-profit organizations are at the heart of all philanthropic activities. Make sure you have access to a wide variety of charities so that you can pick and choose the charities that both align with your company’s mission and values, and appeal to your employees as well. Our database is the largest non-profit repository in the world with over 2.1 Million charities and growing.

7. Can your solution accommodate global employees and programs such as giving and volunteering?

What to look for: Experience Transcending Global Barriers

Spread your philanthropic goals around the world with a multilingual, multicurrency, and multicultural adaptable solution to give employees in various locations a tailored experience to fit their needs.

As part of the selection process, have vendors present specific proposals to transform your workplace philanthropy initiatives. Look for creativity, program depth, process, technology, metrics, delivery time-frames, expected results, engagement fees, references, and awards/recognition.

If you run the selection process well, your corporate social responsibility software partner should be able to deliver tangible improvements within months and re-structure your program for greater employee participation, transparency, and systems-based efficiencies. To submit a request for proposal from CyberGrants, click here. If you’d like to learn more about CyberGrants, view our solutions page here!