The challenge
Sage has always been committed to community investment. However, they struggled to streamline grant distribution, align funding with their mission of, "removing barriers so everyone can thrive” and measure impact across diverse regions like the UK and North America. They also wanted to provide grantees with support beyond just funding.
The solution
To address these challenges, Sage Foundation adopted Benevity's Grants Management software to bring structure, transparency and efficiency to their grantmaking. This enabled them to:
Align grants with their strategic areas
Focus on supporting entrepreneurs, promoting digital inclusion and advancing other strategic initiatives.
Automate impact measurement
Collect data consistently and evaluate success in real-time, ensuring they could track impact metrics and make more informed decisions.
The result
- Stronger strategic alignment: Grantmaking activities became integral to Sage Foundation’'s strategy, aligned with their corporate strategy.
- Measurable results: The platform enabled tracking of key impact metrics, like as the number of beneficiaries supported and grantee progress.
- Enhanced employee engagement: Employees found more avenues to contribute beyond monetary donations, leading to increased participation in grant-supported programs (an almost 60% engagement rate in FY24).
- Sustainable partnerships: Long-term relationships with grantees fostered innovation in community support, including upskilling digital talent and supporting diverse entrepreneurs.
Looking ahead, Sage Foundation plans to further optimize their grantmaking efforts with Benevity, expanding their reach and impact, and encouraging other companies to build strategic grant programs that are closely aligned with corporate missions, leveraging technology for efficiency and measurement.
