“To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society … Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose.”

"Purpose driven companies who have the best interest of communities and all of their stakeholders in mind have always been more sustainably successful over the long term than businesses that don't."

“There are social problems to be solved and businesses solve problems. Businesses are innovators and the problems we have are numerous so it’s really about honing in on those [societal] problems and attacking them with some determination. I think that’s the heart to why businesses are successful through their Social Purpose.”

“Defining our business' social purpose is like discovering our North Star. While a few may have been steering toward its general direction, mapping it out and stating it explicitly enables all employees, management, customers and suppliers to be engaged and aligned towards our common aspirational goal.”

Out of eight respondents to the question of “what business benefits have you observed because of working on identifying your social purpose?” all eight reported short-term impacts. These included: Positive employee feedback, innovative ideas generated, positive customer reaction, and new partnerships attracted.

The SPI program provided a clear roadmap for discovering our purpose and exceptional guidance on how to implement it. Having inspiring purpose practitioners reinforce the learning from the thought leaders at SPI made the experience that much more motivating, memorable, and meaningful.

Partnering with the United Way and participating in their Innovators and Implementers Programs was exactly where we needed to start as we worked to discover our social purpose. As a local credit union, having a social purpose was somewhat implied, but what did it really mean for us and our stakeholders? The programs provided a step-by-step guide to uncovering what really mattered to us a credit union and helped to create alignment with our overall strategy.

After a serendipitous meeting with the UW Social Purpose program team, we discovered what we didn't know was missing. Cool Air Rentals has experienced significant growth over the past few years and we came to realize we needed to articulate our ‘why’ to stakeholders. Until now, our business has been existing with an unspoken, undefined culture in the most beautiful of ways. The Social Purpose journey allowed us to encapsulate our core to share with all, creating deeper connections and articulating our value within our industry and beyond.