diff --git a/_posts/2024-04-19-2023-annual-report.md b/_posts/2024-04-19-2023-annual-report.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04367b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2024-04-19-2023-annual-report.md @@ -0,0 +1,171 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "2023 Annual Benefit Report" +published: true +--- + +# INTRODUCTION + +ChangeSprout Inc., a benefit organization based in New York, provides digital advocacy tools to progressive organizations around the world. + +In 2023, we continued our support of the ControlShift platform. ControlShift is used by organizations around the world to support distributed petitions, events, and local groups. + +As we enter 2024, this report allows us to reflect on the past year, measure the impact we’ve had, and make a plan for the coming year. + + +# GENERAL PUBLIC BENEFIT + +## Selecting a Third-Party Standard: + +As we have since our first benefit report, we continued to use B Lab’s B Impact Assessment. B Labs is a recognized leader in the benefit corporation space and their impact assessment is one of the most highly regarded third-party standards. By continuing to use the same assessment, we can easily monitor annual changes to our performance in each of the assessment categories. + + +## Pursuit of the General Public Benefit and the Extent the General Public Benefit was Created: + +At the time of our incorporation, ChangeSprout decided to pursue a general public benefit, which is defined as a “material positive impact on society and the environment.” As a software provider, we work to provide this positive impact primarily through our ControlShift product. + +ControlShift is a distributed organizing platform. Our tools are built on the idea that people should drive movements, even when they happen online. Organizations use ControlShift to empower their supporters to work for progressive changes in their communities. We believe that regular people make the work our partners do more authentic, agile, and robust. + +Below is a selection of campaigns that were powered by ControlShift in 2023. + + +### General Public Benefit: + +In Australia, leaders in Victoria proposed cutting the budget for visiting teachers – experts who provide direct support for children with disabilities and other complex needs. The Australian Education Union created a petition on Megaphone AU, a project of the Victorian Trades Hall Council. Thousands of supporters came together to demonstrate the importance of visiting teachers and prevent the layoffs. + +Amnesty International Canada organized hundreds of events at schools, cafes, libraries, and private homes in support of activists fighting against oppression. + +In New Zealand, thousands of women have received pregnancy support and labor care at the Nga Hau Māngere Birthing Centre. 75% of those who received care at the centre identified as Māori and/or Pasifika, populations who have historically received inequitable care. When the local community learned that the centre faced imminent closure, they mobilized with the help of ActionStation to reverse the closure. Nearly 10,000 supporters came together and were able to secure the funding needed to keep the birthing centre open. + +In Romania, parental medical leave only applied to parents of children under the age of 7, leaving parents of older ill children few options. More than 65,000 supporters joined a Declic supporter’s campaign to extend medical leave to the parents of any sick child under the age of 18. Following months of organizing and public pressure, the campaign claimed its first victory: parental medical leave was extended to parents of sick children up to 12 years of age. Organizers are continuing to campaign so that all parents of sick children have access to necessary parental leaves. + +In Scotland, parents fought back against a plan to stop funding access to after-school clubs for disabled children. Working with 38 Degrees, parents in Edinburgh started a petition, organized a media campaign, staged an in-person delivery, and won – securing ongoing funding for the program! + +In Sweden, 12,000 residents in Malmö were facing their second round of rent increases in less than a year. The Malmö Tenant’s Association launched a campaign on MittSkifte, and working with Skiftet were able to prevent the increase. + +In Switzerland, Campax saw a victory in a long running campaign. After four years of campaigning, abolishing the ‘tampon tax’ moved closer to success. They’d already sealed approval from the Bundesrat (Federal Council) and Nationalrat (National Council), but this year saw the unopposed approval of the Ständerat (Council of States) too. This is a big win for women in Switzerland, and they’re now pushing for free menstrual products too! + +Workers at St. Mungo’s (a charity tackling homelessness in the UK) saw their pay not keeping up with inflation while their workloads skyrocketed. With the help of the Trades Union Congress, the workers and Unite the Union created a petition on Megaphone UK to increase visibility while also organizing strike actions. After three months of campaigning, they won a 10% pay raise! + +EveryLibrary used their Fight for the First platform to prevent book bans in the United States. By partnering with and providing their expertise to local library and school associations, they’ve secured victories and defeated book bans across the country. + + +### Environment: + +Thousands of Greenpeace France supporters joined a campaign on Greenvoice to secure increased funding for railways. Their pressure worked – Prime Minister Borne included a 100 billion Euro investment in railways in her transport plan. + +Milieudefensie and their supporters joined the Amsterdam Climate March, with groups of supporters traveling in together from dozens of cities in the Netherlands – including one group that cycled in! Milieudefensie’s supporters were among the more than 85,000 people who turned out in support of tougher climate regulations. + +Thousands of supporters joined a campaign on VUMA to raise their voices about dangerous E. coli levels in rivers in Durban, South Africa. Greenpeace Africa Durban volunteers staged a petition delivery, which led to invitations to speak with experts and join the restoration work. + + +## PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT + +The results of ChangeSprout’s 2023 assessment, as compared to the previous two years, are below. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
202120222023
CategoryTotal Points EarnedPercent EarnedTotal Points EarnedPercent EarnedTotal Points EarnedPercent Earned
Governance16.274.017.479.317.579.7
Workers29.773.533.473.135.076.2
Community12.340.011.234.012.037.8
Customers7.474.07.190.45.581.5
Environment2.627.64.345.14.228.8
+ + +## DISCUSSION AND PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS + +### Governance: + +In 2023, our governance score increased slightly. Based on recommendations from our previous B Impact Assessment, we updated our governing documents to add an explicit ethics statement with reporting guidelines. Additional improvements in this section will require legal and structural changes, like changing our ownership structure, that we are unlikely to make. + + +### Workers: + +In 2023, our workers score also increased slightly. Our high performance in this category is due to our commitment to providing livable wages for all employees, generous healthcare options, and other employee benefits. Based on recommendations from our previous B Impact Assessments, we also updated our employee handbook to include an explicit neutrality statement regarding workers' right to bargain collectively and freedom of association. + + +### Community: + +In 2023, our community score increased slightly. As a fully remote team based in two continents, and serving customers around the world, our ‘local community’ is somewhat difficult to define. However, significantly increasing this score would require changing key suppliers, which we are unlikely to do in the foreseeable future. + + +### Customers: + +In the last year our customer score decreased slightly but remained our highest performing category. ChangeSprout aims to be partners with our customers and to agilely meet their needs by building the tools that will help them have positive impacts on the world. To that end, we remained committed to being good stewards of our customers’ data, continued to solicit feedback from customers on new feature developments, and continued to provide our tools at reduced cost, or pro-bono, to small organizations and organizations based in the majority world. + + +### Environment: + + +In 2023, our environment score decreased and became our lowest performing category. While B Lab has added questions aimed at remote companies and home offices, many of the questions in the category still presume that the company is able to measure energy and water usage at corporate offices and other company-controlled facilities. + +As a fully remote team with employees that work from home, it’s difficult for us to accurately measure the energy and water usage for our team. We have worked to estimate the energy used by our servers – which is likely to be our largest use of energy – and we regularly purchase renewable energy credits which match our estimated energy usage. We also offset corporate travel on a regular basis. + +### General Reflections: + +Our impact assessment performance remained strong in 2023. While there are some opportunities for improvement, our main focus for 2024 is to continue providing impactful tools to our customers and being good stewards to our staff. + + +# COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS + +Nathan Woodhull is our Executive Director. His compensation was $179,841 in 2023. Kristyn Arrighi is our Managing Director. Her compensation was $126,144 in 2023. + + +# SHAREHOLDERS + +Nathan Woodhull, founder of ChangeSprout Inc., is the only shareholder.