The Issue Revolution

We have a mantra at Catalist that we have to do better tomorrow than we did today.  As individuals. As a company.  As an industry.  As a society.  It’s why we get up every morning to build dynamic social impact technology, connect the right companies to the right causes, and produce more data to help us all ignite more change.  What we’ve learned along the way is that this mantra also applies to perhaps the biggest trend in the social impact industry today:  As a brand, just being philanthropic is no longer good enough. 

You probably have witnessed this trend manifest in many instances.  Perhaps your company’s leadership has asked you to justify (or measure the impact of) your community investment?  Maybe your employees are asking for greater cause engagement opportunities?  Maybe you’ve identified that your brand could do more than just give money?  (If this is you – Kudos – pat yourself on the back!).

There are a lot of reasons why our industry is changing, growing, evolving.  You’ve probably read a lot of recent studies that speak to this same subject.  We are all highlighting the same conclusion: one of the most influential reasons why we are transforming at a rapid pace is because the issues Americans care about are progressing.  With the influx of media influence, sociopolitical events, overarching zeitgeist and evolving lifestyles, our social interests are becoming more diversified along with how we want to engage with them.  While we parallel the industry in this initial thought, at Catalist we wanted to uncover how different our passions and motivations are today when compared to yesterday, or when compared to our neighbor or family member.   Have the past 12 months really changed our perspective on social commitments?  Why should companies and nonprofit organizations pay attention?

Through a comprehensive combination of qualitative surveys, social listening, psychosocial analysis and yes, expert advice, we have profiled the top social causes that resonate with Americans today.  We take a deeper look at how we all want to make a difference in our communities, and how nuanced our preferences are across demographic lines.  Get ready to understand that what matters most to your stakeholders should matter the most to your company.  Get ready to claim change.