Humana Foundation Learnings: Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals Annual Conference: “Impact Unleashed”

Humana Foundation Systems and Communications Professional Chris Robinson recently attended Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) Annual Conference: “Impact Unleashed” in San Diego, California from Sept. 8-10. The event gathered corporate social impact practitioners from across the country to connect, learn from industry leaders and engage in collaborative discussions.

Throughout the three-day conference, Chris participated in sessions on impact modeling, reporting and storytelling. In pursuit of leading the thinking and actions in these shared spaces, Chris shared several important learnings and takeaways from discussions at ACCP’s “Impact Unleashed” conference:

Creating Impact Reports That Resonate

• Tailor your communication to your audience's needs. Defining the goal of each report helps shape how we present information. For instance, a report designed for our board of directors will have a different style and content focus than an impact report highlighting our partners' achievements.
• Highlight strategy and intention in your communications. Clearly articulating the planning and purpose behind our work demonstrates to the audience that our efforts are intentional and thoughtfully executed, rather than improvised or ad-libbed.
• Lean into and communicate learnings. While it's common to showcase project "wins," sharing lessons from initiatives that didn't meet ideal outcomes is equally valuable. Communicating these insights shows organizational growth and can be more impactful than highlighting successes alone.

Impactful Storytelling and Communication

• Anchor your storytelling in the “Theory of Change.”
  • This approach provides a comprehensive explanation of how and why desired changes are expected to occur in a specific context. It helps map out future work, define success and model pathways to achieve goals. The Humana Foundation can utilize this method in crafting progress reports that align with partners on shared narratives.
  • To create more personal and engaging stories that highlight individuals involved in our partners' projects, focus on shifting from common storytelling to a different lens:
    • Common Focus Areas:
      • Inputs (resources applied to achieve a program)
      • Activities (efforts taken to deliver a program)
      • Outputs (number of stakeholders engaged or activities performed)
    • Where We Should Focus:
      • Outcomes (types of changes among beneficiaries in the short and long term)
      • Impact (the ultimate societal or human difference the program aims to achieve)
• Collaborate with partners on storytelling from the outset. Ask your partners up front “what story do you want to tell” or “what story can we tell together?”
  •  This empowers partners, creates better buy-in and leads to more authentic and compelling communications.
• Drive meaningful connections by continually asking “why.” Delve deeper into issues by questioning: Why is this population feeling socially isolated? Why should others want to help? Why is this an important issue today?
  • This practice helps uncover the core of the issues we communicate, enabling messages that better resonate with our audience.

On behalf of the Humana Foundation, thank you, Chris, for sharing these learnings from ACCP's Annual Conference: “Impact Unleashed."

This article and accompanying insights are part of the Humana Foundation’s continual growth journey where we share learnings to expand our knowledge in philanthropy to better serve our communities.