SDG Impact Reporting:
Module 5: Set up your Impact Reporting System
Put in Place a Roadmap to Track and Scale up the Good You Do
Module Description
Welcome to Week 5! Last week, we learned about the 7 Elements of a Powerful Impact Story. Now that you know what to write, this week we’ll focus on putting a consistent system in place to keep gathering the data you need. In addition, you’ll create your Impact Communications Plan, setting out the different ways that you’ll get the word out about the positive impact your business makes - through multiple channels and messaging - to appeal to the distinct audiences that you want to reach. On special request from cohort members, we’ll also do a deep dive into two advanced tools to inform your Impact Reporting - Materiality Assessments and Life Cycle Assessments.
What You’ll Learn
After completing this module, you will be able to:
Develop an implementation roadmap with 3-5 concrete next steps for publishing your first SDG impact report.
Identify 2-3 key channels (e.g., website, social media, SGBN network) to effectively communicate your SDG commitments and report to specific stakeholders.
Formulate a basic plan for integrating continuous SDG tracking into your core business operations to ensure reporting is an ongoing journey, not a one-off project.
Understand how Materiality Assessments help to identify priority environmental and social impacts.
Apply Life Cycle Assessments to quantify your product's or service's impact from cradle to grave.
Activation & Launch
This week, we'll focus on how to activate and launch your SDG Impact Reporting. Impact Reporting isn’t a one-time action, it requires embedding this type of thinking into your business processes so that you are gathering the data you need and crafting compelling stories in every action you do.
We’ve created a guide for you that sets out a strategic framework for your business to translate your SDG impact stories into a multi-channel communications campaign. The goal is to move beyond a single report and create a sustained narrative that engages audiences, builds brand loyalty, and drives business value.
This Guide outlines a four-phase process:
Foundation & Strategy,
Content Creation,
Launch & Engagement, and
Measurement & Iteration
E-Learning Course
Essential reading for Week 5 - Setting up your Impact Reporting System
Step 1: Foundation and Strategy
This phase is about defining the 'Why', 'Who', and 'What' of your campaign.
Define Your Goals: You must set specific, measurable goals for your campaign, which can be broken down into Primary (business), Secondary (audience), and Tertiary (brand) goals.
Identify Your Audience: A successful campaign requires you to identify and understand your primary and secondary audiences, including their values and what they need to hear from you. This may differ for B2C, B2B, or community-focused organizations.
Solidify Your Core Message: You must craft a single, core message that serves as the "North Star" for all your content. The guide suggests a formula: "We help [Your Audience] achieve [Their Goal] by [Your Unique Impact Approach], which contributes to [Your Key SDGs]".
Welcome to Week 5. This week, we'll focus on how to activate and launch your SDG Impact Reporting. Impact Reporting isn’t a one-time action, it requires embedding this type of thinking into your business processes so that you are gathering the data you need and crafting compelling stories in every action you do.
We’ve created a guide for you that sets out a strategic framework for your business to translate your SDG impact stories into a multi-channel communications campaign. The goal is to move beyond a single report and create a sustained narrative that engages audiences, builds brand loyalty, and drives business value.
This Guideoutlines a four-phase process:
Foundation & Strategy,
Content Creation,
Launch & Engagement, and
Measurement & Iteration
In Practice: Your SDG Impact Playbook
Your Assignment this Week
The learning component of this course is complete! Now you can focus on action. Take the next 1-3 months to draft your SDG Impact Reporting and plan your Impact Communications Campaign. When you’re ready, book a one-hour free coaching session - one-to-one advice from your SDG expert - to refine and validate your SDG Impact Report and plans!
Good luck and thanks for your active participation throughout this course!
Step 2: Content Creation
Advanced Tools for Impact Reporting
From your requests, we’ll take a quick look at two advanced tools: Materiality Assessments and Life-Cycle Assessments. You’ll find guidance and examples of each in the SDG Impact Playbook above.
Materiality Assessments
A materiality assessment is crucial for impact reporting because it acts as a strategic filter, helping a business pinpoint the few economic, environmental, and social issues that matter most. For a small business with limited time and resources, this process is essential for two main reasons:
It Ensures Focus: Instead of trying to report on all 17 SDGs or every good deed, a materiality assessment identifies the core issues that are most significant to the business's long-term success and most relevant to its key stakeholders (like customers, employees, and investors). This prevents the report from being a diluted or unconvincing story.
It Defines Relevance (Double Materiality): The process helps a business look at two perspectives:
Financial Materiality: What sustainability issues (like water scarcity) could affect the company's financial performance?
Impact Materiality: What are the company's most significant positive or negative impacts on the world (like empowering artisans or diverting waste)?
By focusing on these "material" issues, a company can create an impact report that is sharp, credible, and a true reflection of its core strategy and values.
This phase focuses on "unbundling" your core story into various content pieces using a "Create Once, Distribute Many Times" approach.
Create a "Pillar" Piece: This is the central, detailed asset, such as an Impact Page or Report, that you will drive all traffic to. It should feature your narrative, SDG focus, key metrics, and clear calls-to-action.
Create "Snackable" Content: Brainstorm 3-5 smaller content pieces derived from your pillar story for each channel you use, such as your website, email newsletter, social media (Instagram/LinkedIn), and even product packaging or B2B sales decks.
Step 3: Launch & Engagement
This phase details how to map out a thoughtful, timed rollout for your campaign. The guide provides an example of a 4-week calendar.
Week 1: Launch the main announcement driving traffic to your Impact Page.
Week 2: Do a "deep dive" on your 'People' story (e.g., SDG 8 - Decent Work).
Week 3: Do a "deep dive" on your 'Planet' story (e.g., SDG 12 - Circularity).
Week 4: Focus on a strong "Call to Action" that connects your impact to your business goals (e.g., "Shop the Impact Collection").
Step 4: Measurement & Iteration
This final phase is about understanding what worked by referring back to the goals you set in Phase 1.
Set Up Tracking: Before you launch, determine how you will track your key metrics. For example, use Google Analytics to track website traffic, e-commerce analytics for sales, or native social media analytics for engagement (likes, shares).
Analyze and Iterate: Perform a monthly check-in to see what content resonated most, which channels drove the most traffic, and whether you saw a lift in sales or inquiries. Use this data to decide what to do more of and what to stop doing.
We’ve created a "Impact Communications Campaign: A Guide & Planner," offering a practical, step-by-step workbook to help you develop your SDG Impact Communications Campaign, with examples from the members of this 2025 SDG Impact Reporting Cohort.
Its primary goal is to help you translate your powerful impact stories and the data from your SDG report into a strategic, multi-channel communications campaign. The planner is designed to move you beyond publishing a single report and help you create a sustained narrative that engages your audience, builds brand loyalty, and drives business value.
Download the Playbook to read case studies of good impact reporting and access the checklist to design your Impact Reporting System from start to finish.
Materiality Assessments
Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are important for SDG impact reporting because they provide a systematic way to understand the full range of a product's environmental impacts. A "low-lift" LCA is a practical tool for SMEs used during a materiality assessment to help pinpoint which environmental issues are most significant to its specific product or service.
Provides a Comprehensive View: An LCA forces a business to look beyond its own "factory doors" to analyze the entire life of a product—from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation, customer use, and final disposal.
Identifies "Hotspots": This analysis is crucial for identifying "hotspots"—the stages or components that have the most significant environmental impact.
Informs Strategy: By knowing these hotspots, a business can make informed, strategic decisions on where to focus its improvement efforts.
Helps Calculate Outcomes: Even without a full, complex LCA, "life cycle thinking" is essential for translating your impact into credible metrics. It allows a business to use established data to estimate environmental outcomes, such as calculating the "CO2 emissions avoided" or "water saved" by using reclaimed materials instead of virgin ones.