INTRODUCTION
ChangeSprout Inc., a benefit corporation based in New York, provides digital advocacy tools to progressive organizations around the world.
GENERAL PUBLIC BENEFIT
Selecting a Third-Party Standard:
For our 2020 annual report, we continued to use B Lab’s B Impact Assessment. B Labs is a leader within the benefit corporation community, and their assessment is one of the most highly regarded third-party standards. By continuing to use the same assessment that we have used in previous years, we can track our impact over time. Additionally, because B Lab provides tips for improving our impact, we can easily create a roadmap for the coming year.
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 and VisitThem.org products.
ChangeSprout’s work is centered on the idea that people should drive moments, even when they happen online. Our tools are built with that aim in mind; we believe that empowering regular people to become leaders in their communities makes the movements we support more authentic, robust, and effective.
Around the world we’ve seen the power of member-led campaigning in winning progressive change. Below are some of the campaigns that ControlShift powered in 2020.
General Public Benefit:
In Texas, MoveOn members successfully pressured the Texas State Regulatory Board of Social Work Examiners to overturn a newly-introduced rule that allowed social workers to refuse services to clients based on disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
In California, 4,500 supporters of the Best Friends Animal Society came together to ensure that the Los Angeles City Council approved the first step in establishing a trap-neuter-return program for the city’s cat population. More than 13,000 kittens entered a single LA shelter in 2019, and the trap-neuter-return program will greatly reduce the number of kittens who are euthanized.
In Romania, more than 10,000 Declic members organized to ensure that children with Batten disease, a rare and fatal neurological disease, receive free care under the country’s national health service. After nearly three years of campaigning, the government announced in April 2020 that the only palliative care option for Batten disease would now be covered by the national health service.
In the US, Coworker.org’s supporters pressured REI to close all of their stores and continue paying hourly workers during the initial pandemic lockdowns. This closure also allowed REI to implement changes to ensure worker safety.
Throughout the year, we’ve seen many campaigns working to ensure workers’ safety during the ongoing pandemic. Wins have included: additional paid sick leave and reduced service on the Madison, WI metro system; increased pay and protections for workers at Kroger, Trader Joe’s, and Starbucks; and protections for teachers in various European countries.
Additionally, in the UK, 38 Degrees supporters pressured the government to continue its free meals voucher for school children, which the government had planned to discontinue during school holidays. 38 Degrees members campaigned, and highlighted the hypocrisy of ending free school meals for impoverished children while continuing to subsidize free meals for members of parliament, which led to the government reversing its decision and committing to feeding children in need over school holidays.
In Serbia, Kreni Promeni successfully campaigned to ensure financial assistance for artists whose lives were impacted by the ongoing pandemic.
In Germany, 42,000 Campact members campaigned to ensure that single parents had access to emergency childcare during the pandemic.
Environment:
Campaigns hosted on ControlShift cover a wide range of topics, including environmental campaigns:
In Romania, 14,000 Declic supporters campaigned to protect the Baneasa Forest, Herastrau Park, and other green areas from being converted to commercial real estate.
After more than a year of campaigning, advertisements, court cases, and demonstrations, more than 30,000 Skiftet members were able to block the expansion of an oil refinery that would have become the largest point source emitter in Sweden.
Skiftet members also worked to block the dumping of more than 290,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage into Øresund, the sound between Denmark and Sweden.
In Hungary, aHang member prevented the razing of a nature conservancy to build a hotel and apartments complex.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Thee results of ChangeSprout’s 2020 assessment, as compared to the previous two years, are below.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
| Category | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned |
| Governance | 17.6 | 80.5 | 17.0 | 77.0 | 16.9 | 77.2 |
| Workers | 32 | 56.9 | 35.1 | 76.9 | 33.9 | 77.1 |
| Community | 9.3 | 25.6 | 18.1 | 49.3 | 15.8 | 46.9 |
| Customers | 5.2 | 77.0 | 39.6 | 89.4 | 6.2 | 79.4 |
| Environment | 2.5 | 37.6 | 4.5 | 47.5 | 4.7 | 49.6 |
DISCUSSION AND PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS
Governance:
In the last year, our governance score has remained the same. ChangeSprout Inc. is committed to transparent decision making, and regularly consults with all employees – and where appropriate, customers – on strategic decisions. We also practice financial transparency by sharing the company’s financial information internally.
As in past years, increasing our governance score would require legal and structural changes, like changing our ownership model and installing a board of directors, which we are unlikely to undertake.
Workers:
In the last year, our performance in the workers category was largely unchanged. Our high performance in the workers category is due to our commitment to providing livable wages for all employees, generous healthcare options, and other employee benefits. We also implemented some of the handbook changes that we identified in our 2020 assessment.
We’re unlikely to implement many changes in 2021, but potential opportunities for improvement include:
- Establishing a program to reimburse some costs for continuing education credentials.
- Encouraging more employees to take advantage of professional development opportunities.
Community:
In the last year, our community score decreased slightly. As a fully remote team in two continents, our community is more geographically separated than many other small businesses.
Opportunities for improvement in 2021 include:
- Tracking employee community service hours and providing incentives for community service time.
- Conducting analyses of our job description language and requirements to ensure they are inclusive and equitable.
- Excluding names and identifiable characteristics from resumes and applications when hiring new employees.
Customers:
In the last year, our customer score decreased slightly, but it still remained our highest percentage category. At ChangeSprout, we’re committed to meeting the needs of our customers and building the tools that will help them grow their positive impact in the world. To that end, we continued to solicit feedback from customers on new feature developments, incorporated customer input into our strategic decision making, and continued to provide our tools at reduced cost, or pro-bono, to small organizations and organizations based in the global south.
In 2021, we’ll continue to make our commitment to our customers a top priority and work to build the tools that increase their positive impacts.
Environment:
The environment category increased slightly in 2020. As in past years, many of the questions in this category deal with measuring energy and water usage at corporate offices and other company-controlled facilities. As a fully remote team with employees that work from home and (for the first two months of the year) shared coworking spaces, 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 data center – which is our largest use of energy – and we regularly purchase renewable energy credits that match our estimated energy usage. We also offset corporate travel on a quarterly basis.
General Reflections:
We’re pleased with our performance in 2020 and are looking forward to continuing our work in 2021.
COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS
Nathan Woodhull is ChangeSprout Inc.’s only director. His total compensation in 2020 was $150,503.
SHAREHOLDERS
Nathan Woodhull, founder of ChangeSprout Inc., is the only shareholder.