From values-based decision-making and SMART targets to community collaboration and embedding ‘making a difference’ into operations, events venues have lots of tools at their disposal to drive positive social impact. This article will tell you how we’ve harnessed these to deliver partnerships with purpose, not platitudes, at Church House Westminster – and how you can do the same.
Start as you mean to go on
First things first, look around you. Knowing your local community, what impact does your potential partnership have on them? How is it relevant to their lives? Will it create meaningful change? And, most importantly, will they feel it? One way to navigate this is by considering the values of your potential partner. Do they align with your values? Given yours are grounded in the communities you care about, shared values is a powerful foundation on which to start building a partnership that delivers genuine social benefit.
This also sets the tone for the relationship from the beginning – one defined by openness, honesty, transparency and communication. Together, you can then set clear and measurable social goals that make a tangible difference to the people at the heart of your shared endeavour.
Learn. Adjust. Repeat.
Once you’ve established that partnership, amplify it. If your goal is sincere, holding yourself to account for its delivery will only elevate its impact. Whether it’s on energy use, charity support, social engagement or anything in-between, track changes over time to gain a more informed understanding of how and where improvements can be made. In this same vein, reach out with an open mind and open heart to gather feedback from partners, stakeholders, communities, employees, anyone and everyone with unique insights and perspectives to share. Whether the feedback is good or bad, this honesty will help you shape an initiative that truly delivers rather than delivering in name only.
Similarly, set SMART targets (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound). If you have to start small and build, that’s okay; making your targets ambitious yet doable will have a much greater social impact than making them grand yet unrealistic and, therefore, ultimately unachievable. Speaking of which, holding yourself to account by reporting progress publicly, at an AGM for example, will help ensure goals are attainable and, as a result, recipients of the partnership feel its benefit.
Harnessing our power
Businesses and organisations around the country, and the world, are forever finding new, exciting and more innovative ways to support positive social change. Indeed, here at Church House, we’ve been inspired by so many on our own journey.
To name just a few, the Eden Project’s focus on community partnerships inspired our own partnerships with local organisations including, for example, ‘Bees & Refugees’, an environmental charity which created a bespoke bug hotel on the roof of the venue that is managed by refugees. The Sagrada Familia’s use of cork insulation inspired us to use spray cork insulation in our own recent carbon-negative refurbishment (helping us to officially become a net-zero venue in 2024, six years ahead of target). Similarly, the design of Lambeth Palace Library to Passivhaus Standards inspired us to reduce our electricity consumption by almost 80%, and become a proud pilot member of the Westminster and Victoria District Energy Heat Network, a groundbreaking initiative which, by 2027, will use heat from the tube and River Thames to heat buildings.
It is collaboration like this that could turbocharge the impact of social initiatives in the events industry. Let’s work together and co-create standards or joint campaigns. Let’s support each other by sharing best practice (and the things that don’t work well) openly and honestly. Let’s pool our resources to generate greater results. Let’s shout about our efforts to inspire others and showcase the power of working together. Basically, let’s make it a safe space to go on this journey collectively, and never let potential missteps stop us from trying, from learning, from supporting each other and from showing up for the people and environments at the heart of our efforts.
More than platitudes
That’s big picture but, how could this work in individual venues? How can venues make positive social impact a fully-integrated part of day-to-day operations, rather than just a bolt-on?
Well, start from the ground and work your way up. Embed values, initiatives and partnerships into staff training and inductions, so employees view social impact as a pivotal part of their remit from the beginning. Similarly, integrate goals into job roles and team meetings, making social impact proactive, dynamic, something that is consistently being worked towards. Likewise, assimilate it into contracts and KPIs, ensuring positive social benefit is a steadfast pillar of your long-term strategy. As a venue, you can also lead by example, choosing to only work with ethical suppliers and service providers, for instance. Last but not least, utilise your building; use it to demonstrate your values visibly, putting posters on the walls, for example, in offices and events spaces to highlight who you are and what you believe in.
The best of both worlds
Now, of course, events venues are for profit organisations, and that means we need to balance both our commercial and social goals. So, how to make the business case for partnerships that bring social benefit?
Start by looking for overlaps. For example, we know sustainable events attract clients, so identify where your social and commercial goals can align naturally and start from there. Prioritise partnerships that bring both commercial and social benefit, enabling you to make an impact in a way that is sustainable for your business and, as a result, allows you to keep generating positive change as your business thrives. In line with this, set dual KPIs to ensure you’re hitting both financial and social targets and nourishing both sides of your business.
Finally, show the business case for impact, don’t just tell. Highlight to stakeholders and investors the tangible impact of measures – has repeat business increased, for example? Has your reputation strengthened? Has your brand reached new audiences? Show them how social good isn’t just a nice to have – it’s smart business too.
