INTRODUCTION
ChangeSprout Inc., a benefit organization based in New York, provides digital advocacy tools to progressive organizations around the world.
In 2022 we continued our support and development of the ControlShift platform. The platform empowers advocacy organization’s supporters to create and lead events, local groups, and petitions in their communities.
GENERAL PUBLIC BENEFIT
Selecting a Third-Party Standard:
As we have done in previous years, we chose to use B Lab’s B Impact Assessment for our 2022 annual report. B Lab 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 easily 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 product.
ChangeSprout’s work is centered on the idea that people should drive moments, even when they happen online. The ControlShift 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 2022.
General Public Benefit:
In the UK, 38 Degrees supporters campaigned for a £600 payment to households in Northern Ireland. The payment, which was aimed at offsetting increased heating costs, was agreed to by the UK government following the campaign.
In the Republic of Ireland, Uplift supporters saved their school’s speech and language therapy teacher, preventing 50 special needs children from losing their needed intensive instruction.
In Romania, patients with Cystic Fibrosis and their advocates saw the benefits of a new medication that had been approved in Western Europe and North America. Together, more than 25,000 supporters pushed the Romanian Ministry of Health and the National Medicines Agency to approve the use of the drug and include it on the compensated drugs list.
In Sweden, Skiftet supporters mobilized to prevent the deportation of a well-known Russian journalist. The journalist, who is critical of the Putin regime, would have been separated from her husband and child and would have likely been jailed upon return to Russia.
In Poland, Akcja Demokracja supporters prevented increased ticket prices for public transit buses, which would have had both economic and environmental impacts.
Coworker.org supporters successfully pushed Starbucks to add tipping options to credit card purchases.
In the UK, the Trades Union Congress ran numerous campaigns to improve worker conditions. Together with 10,000 supporters, they won a 4% pay increase for dock workers in Liverpool. Supporters also stood with sanitation workers in Coventry to win a nearly 13% pay increase and payment of back Christmas bonuses.
In Australia, the Victorian Trades Hall Council also won various protections for workers. 10,000 supporters came together to push for safer apprenticeships. Under pressure, the government agreed to create an apprentice task force to regulate apprenticeships and investigate complaints. Another campaign held a transit company to account for targeting a union delegate with disciplinary action and bullying during contract negotiations.
In Austria, #Aufstehn campaigns saved two young men – a refugee from Afghanistan and a Nigerian man who was disabled in an accident – from being deported.
Environment:
In the UK, 56,000 campaigners came together to block the expansion of a regional airport when the plans had previously been approved without an environmental impact study. Another campaign, also run by 38 Degrees, prevented a new development that would impact local biodiversity and natural habitats.
In Sweden, 42,000 Skiftet supporters prevented a proposal to remove beach protections. The removal of these protections would have allowed public beaches to be sold to private developers.
In Austria, #Aufstehn supporters prevented the government from building a parking garage in a local park.
In France, a coalition with unions and other advocacy organizations prevented the closure of the only factory in France that produces 100% recycled newsprint. In addition to the environmental impacts, the campaigners – 50,000 of whom joined with Greenpeace France – also saved more than 200 jobs.
These are just a selection of the various campaigns that ControlShift has helped power. Across the world, we’ve seen people get involved in their communities and win meaningful changes – both large and small. We’re so proud of the work that our customers support, and we are equally proud to have played a role.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Thee results of ChangeSprout’s 2022 assessment, as compared to the previous two years, are below.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||
| Category | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned | Total Points Earned | Percent Earned |
| Governance | 16.9 | 77.2 | 16.2 | 74.0 | 17.4 | 79.3 |
| Workers | 33.9 | 77.1 | 29.7 | 73.5 | 33.4 | 73.1 |
| Community | 15.8 | 46.9 | 12.3 | 40.0 | 11.2 | 34.0 |
| Customers | 6.2 | 79.4 | 7.4 | 74.0 | 7.1 | 90.4 |
| Environment | 4.7 | 49.6 | 2.6 | 27.6 | 4.3 | 45.1 |
DISCUSSION AND PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS
Governance:
In 2022, our governance score increased slightly from 2021. To further improve our score would require legal and structural changes, like changing our ownership structure, that we are unlikely to make.
Workers:
In the last year, our performance in the workers category remained mostly 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. In the last year, we also improved our employee handbook following suggestions from 2021’s assessment.
Community:
In the last year, our community score decreased and became our lowest performing category. As a fully remote team based in two continents, and serving customers around the world, our community is more geographically separated than many other small businesses.
Significantly increasing this score would require changing key suppliers, which we’re unlikely to do in the next 12 months. If we hire in the next year, we’ll incorporate B Lab’s suggestions for supporting a more diverse and equitable hiring process.
Customers:
In 2022, our customer score increased significantly and remained our highest performing 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 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:
The environment category continued to be our lowest performing category in 2022. 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, 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.
General Reflections:
While there is always room for improvement, we’re pleased with our performance in 2022. We remain committed to being good stewards of our customers, staff, and the communities we’re part of in the coming year.
COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS
Nathan Woodhull, founder of ChangeSprout Inc., is our executive director. His 2022 compensation was $134,248. Kristyn Arrighi is our managing director. Her 2022 compensation was $95,068.
SHAREHOLDERS
Nathan Woodhull, founder of ChangeSprout Inc., is the only shareholder.