One of our goals is to keep SocialMarks simple. It’s easy to over-complicate data and social impact. There are only so many ways you can help people, and there are only so many assets that you can mobilize for community. The data we are collecting isn’t new but how we combine and analyze the data is truly unique.
Sources
Public: We look at company reports, press releases, and corporate websites. The value of this search is that you can see what a company is willing to talk about and promote. These data points can include KPIs, NGO partnerships, philanthropic donations, media campaigns, and the like.
Government: Some data is available via government websites. This can include census data, gender and diversity numbers, local data, and more. This information is available to all and is a powerful addition to the private sector data we collect.
Third Party: Some of the data we seek is already collected via partners like Refinitiv, Glassdoor, and similar sources. The data these partners collect is typically primary data either from surveys, questionnaires, or research departments. All of our third-party data comes from industry-leading providers.
Methods
What’s unique about SocialMarks data is not just the sources that we use, but also the type of information that’s gathered and analyzed. Our scoring is made of the following:
Quantitative Information: 43% of the data we include in the SocialMarks scoring is direct, quantitative numbers like dollars invested, number of employees, number of partnerships, and more. As we do with all of our data, we scale and normalize this information so that the information we want to communicate is clear.
Binary Information: 49% of the data is more binary in nature. We look for the existence of reports, strategies, benchmarks, KPIs, and targets. While we do not judge the quality of the underlying information, knowing that there is published information is key for many.
Assessments: 8% of our data is derived from assessing different aspects of our datasets. We put our 30 years of operating history to work to assess the quality and value of partnerships, reporting, social impact programs, and the like. How we do this work is proprietary, but it is a consistent, transparent assessment of not only client companies, but also their competitive set.
