SDG Impact Reporting:
Module 2: Defining Your Purpose
Your Values is the Brand: Build Authentic Connections
Module Description
Welcome to Week 2. Last week, we began exploring your authentic 'Why.' Now, we will learn how to articulate the problem your business exists to solve, turning it into the cornerstone of your brand story.
This module introduces the full SDG Impact Report Template as our "North Star" for the program. We will teach you a powerful formula for framing your challenge using either problem-focused data or consumer-value statistics, and show you how to weave this narrative into your broader brand strategy.
What You’ll Learn
After completing this module, you will be able to:
Understand the structure and purpose of a final SDG Impact Report.
Frame your business's core challenge using the "Journalist's Formula."
Draft a compelling "SDG Challenge Statement" that connects with your target audience.
Identify opportunities to integrate this core story into your existing marketing channels.
This Week’s Assignment
1. Read through the online learning materials for Week 2 below. These materials offer helpful tips, guides and examples to help you frame your business’ own SDG Challenge.
2. Your assignment is to write the first draft of your "SDG Challenge Statement" (150-200 words). Use the personalized research guide ("Framing Your SDG Challenge") that was sent to you by email for initial ideas. Refer to the formulas from this module to craft a statement that is clear, compelling, and authentic to your brand.
3. Come Ready to Discuss on Friday’s Live Session: You’ll get a personalized invite to a small group discussion session on Friday, June 27th - max 5 businesses per session.
Got questions about the SDGs?
E-Learning Course
Essential reading for Week 2
Get your SDG Impact Reporting Template
Welcome to Week 2. Last week, we identified your 'Why.' This week, we're going to learn how to articulate the problem your business exists to solve. Before we dive in, let's look at our North Star for the entire program - the SDG Impact Reporting Template.
Our Goal: To help you create a concise, powerful impact report.
We've created a brief template that we will build, piece by piece, over the next four weeks. Think of it as the 'skeleton' for your impact story. You will each have received a personalized copy of the Template by email.
More than just a report! It's important to remember that the impact story we create in this course is a foundational framework. It's a toolkit you can adapt for your website, social media, pitch decks, and more, which we'll explore in Week 5.
Bonus: 3 month check-in
This five-week course is a sprint to build your core assets. Your participation in this Program includes a 3-month check-in through a private, one-hour coaching session to review your completed SDG Impact Reporting.
Step 1: Start with the “Voice of Your Customer”
Great stories connect immediately. Frame the problem in a way that comes from the mouth of your target consumer. What are they worried about? What do they desire?
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2. The “Journalist’s Formula”
Effective impact reporting starts by becoming the expert on the problem you solve. We're going to use a simple 'Journalist's Formula' to frame your issue in a way that is credible, urgent, and compelling.
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Step 2: Choose your proof: Challenge (URGENCY) or value (AUTHENTICITY)
Next, you need data to back up your story. You have a strategic choice. You can use a Challenge Statistic to show the urgency and scale of the issue (great for B2B or investors). Or, you can use a Consumer Values Statement to show how your business reflect consumer values (great for B2C marketing).
Check out the personalized “Framing your SDG Challenge” tips sent to each of your by email to get started with initial ideas. Take the time to research a bit more to understand what other’s are saying about the challenge you are tackling and integrate these views into your Statement.
3. Articulating the Challenge with Authoritative Sources
Case Study 1: Hudson Valley Textile Project
This Scientific American article, “The Fast Fashion Backlash is Fueling a Sustainability Revolution” describes the impact story of HVTP, telling the personal story of the founder - Lilly Marsh - and her goal to “build a natural-textile supply chain that aims to break free from the global fashion industry”. The piece focuses on the “one big problem that HVTP” set out to solve - “wool” - and explains the problem and their solution.
Importantly, it shows how the solution empower others - farmers, artisans - and is part of a growing global effort to mitigate the harms of the global fashion industry. Statistics are provided to show the scale of the problem in ways people understand - “annual textile production uses up enough water to fill at least 37 million Olympic-size swimming pools” etc. A call to action is issued for better regulation, but then the founder clearly states that they aren’t waiting for “top-down initiatives to change the fashion industry”. Rather, they are building a movement.
Reflect on this structure. Is it compelling? Why? Can you integrate elements in your own SDG Impact Statement?
4. Case Study: Offer your customers a chance to join a movement
Check out this Fortune article on "Blueland”, a company that has raised over $35 million and sold over 10 million products online and off the shelves of stores like Whole Foods, Costco, and Target.
Helping people understand the mission was one half of the journey.
Sarah Paiji Yoo doesn't just sell soap tablets; she sells participation in solving the single-use plastic crisis. Her brand's success comes from framing the problem so clearly that her product becomes the obvious solution. This is the mindset shift we're aiming for.
Check out their 2024 Impact Report.
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Can you articulate a simple statement of the challenge you tackle? Refer to the SDG language for ideas.
5. Make It Personal. Show why YOU have the solution
"In today's market, the most compelling brand stories are human stories... your personal 'why' is your company's most valuable asset."
This insight from Forbes, “Why Personal Branding Is The New Business Branding” is crucial. For a small, mission-driven business, your personal passion is not something to hide; it's your key differentiator.
The modern customer craves authenticity. Many people want to know the stories and faces behind a company. According to Edelman’s 2023 Trust Barometer, 63% of people trust their neighbors, while 48% trust CEOs. Often customers want to know what an individual says about a brand more than what the brand says about itself.
Can you articulate your personal brand? Why can consumers trust you to find the right solution?
Your Assignment this Week
Your assignment this week is to write the first draft of your 'SDG Challenge Statement' (150-200 words). This statement should be the cornerstone of your impact report's introduction.
Your Statement Must:
Clearly identify the core problem you solve.
Use the "Journalist's Formula" (include a global stat, a local angle, and a human touch).
Connect your personal mission to this broader challenge.
Be written in a tone that reflects your unique brand voice.
For inspiration, explore this database of social enterprises and see how they frame their work around the SDGs.
Looking forward to reviewing your SDG Statements together on Friday!
STEP 3: MAKE IT YOUR PERSONAL MISSION & ISSUE A CALL TO ACTION
Finally, connect the problem to your personal mission. Why are you the one to solve this? With you leading the way, how can your consumers play an important role in driving change on this issue? This is where you build authenticity and trust.
Case Study 2: THe CASE FOR LOCAL ECONOMIES
This Time article, “We’re Looking for Climate Solutions in the Wrong Places” targets an audience who is already cares about climate change, but puts forward a provocative suggestion, “Maybe we’re doing it all wrong”. Doing so creates a memorable article, by asking readers to challenge their own assumptions and discover a new solution: “the promise of localization” - the heart and soul of the Good Business Network of Washington and all your businesses.
Here’s a notable quote:
“Yet most climate responses continue to treat the symptoms. Carbon offsets, electric vehicles, and glossy net-zero pledges are held up as solutions, while the core logic—produce more, ship further, grow faster—goes unchallenged. We are, in effect, trying to solve a crisis caused by overconsumption, with more consumption.
But what if the solution isn’t more, but less? That’s the promise of localization...In essence, localization shifts power away from global corporations and back to communities.
If this model sounds like a utopian fantasy, it isn’t. It’s how most of the world lived for millennia, rooted in place, producing what was needed close to home, adapting to ecological limits rather than overriding them.”
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Could this argument be used in your own Impact Statement? What other authoritative sources can you find?
