Case Study: 12 best practices for your impact report to learn from Sugi

Case Study: 12 best practices for your impact report to learn from Sugi

Let's be honest. By now, even in the nature field, we have some bad apples. 

NGOs or biodiversity businesses that claim to have a positive impact but never actually have any proof to show it. 

Customers and donors are becoming more demanding. They want to see if you created the positive impact you promised.

This is where Impact Reports come in. 

The only problem is that most of them I have seen are boring, too long, and in concrete. 

So today, I take you through the incredible impact report of Sugi, one of my favorite NGOs. 

Sugi is a nature restoration NGO that creates pocket forests with communities. 

Plenty to learn, so let's dive in. 

Case Study: 12 best practices for your impact report to learn from Sugi

#1 Show your impact areas

Duuhhh. I know, but many impact reports only focus on the one obvious impact you are creating. 

If people truly cared about nature, we wouldn't be in this mess. 

To showcase how your solution creates an impact beyond "just" biodiversity. 

From the start, you learn that Sugi positively impacts biodiversity, health, food, people, climate, education & cities. 

More impact = higher chance to get donations or sales. 

#2 Fill it with pictures

I am sure you have seen them as well, those impact reports that suck the soul out of you. 

Just text and numbers. And 300 pages long.

Not with Sugi. 

They brought their impact to life by sharing countless pictures. They are not only high quality and visually pleasing, but they also prove their work. 

Plus, as a nice side effect, the reader might actually go through your report. 

#3 Stay on brand 

The impact report is the shiny new toy that you can wave around to convince donors & customers to financially support you, hopefully. 

So ensure that you use the opportunity to show them your remarkable brand. 

The fonts, the colors, the doodles, the pictures editing. Everything in this report screams SUGI!

So next time people come across their work, they will immediately know: THIS IS SUGI! 

And will likely engage with their work or support it again. 

The holy grail of branding. 

#4 Impact in numbers 

Now comes a shocker. In your impact report, share the impact you created in numbers. 

Don't get me wrong, not everything can be measured nowadays, but you need to start measuring, reporting, and communicating your impact. 

Sugi does this brilliantly. Thereby proving that they are not greenwashing. 

It makes their actions tangible. 

Additionally, it will benefit your mental health because you finally get an idea that your work truly matters. 

#5 Show the evolution

If you have historical data on your impact, show the progress that you are making. 

It increases trust in your nature project substantially if people can see that you might not be perfect but that the tendency looks excellent. 

Year after year, you see how Sugi improved its operations to scale nature restoration. 

#6 Tell real stories from the ground

Nowadays, people have a BS radar when it comes to PR-washed texts. They immediately get it if you are writing things but don't mean it. 

You won't believe what positive attention you will receive by just sharing real stories of real people with your impact report readers. 

Again, they will make your entire report more trustworthy and entertaining to read. 

Plus, we tend to remember personal stories much more than hard facts. 

#7 Make the impact human

As mentioned in our intro, I would love for everyone to appreciate nature, protect and rewild it. 

But we are from that. 

Humans care about humans. 

We need to find solutions and angles that show people how they benefit from nature in their lives. 

Sugi impressively managed to do that through the vast pictures and stories showing that they are a solution for the planet and people. 

#8 Compare before and after 

One of the most powerful messages you can send to your readers is visually showing them what impact you created. 

There is a reason why they are so popular in marketing. Because they truly work. 

People immediately see the value in your nature venture just by seeing such pictures. 

Sugi did a great job in documenting the sites before, months, and years after. 

It is one of the most powerful ways to convince readers of your solution.

#9 Highlight indigenous people  

Indigenous people are often ignored when it comes to biodiversity activities. 

Which couldn't be more idiotic considering that they are the guardians of 80% of biodiversity on this planet. 

Sugi is reconnecting community members with native tree species and raising awareness about their existence. 

It's wild that this is even needed, but don't get me started on that topic. 

#10 Bring it to the cities 

More than half of the human population lives in cities. 

Let's be honest, that is where most decisions are made, and overconsumption is flourishing. 

So if you can, you have to be present in cities to bring nature or the problem to them. 

Sugi does a phenomenal job highlighting in their impact report how they make cities more habitable while reconnecting people to nature. 

Win for everybody. 

#11 Track your awareness impact

Raising awareness is also creating an impact. Yes, it is hard to tell how many changes really happened because you posted an Instagram reel.

Yet without awareness, there will be no change. 

So, track it and list it as one of your impacts. 

Sugi's work and marketing efforts clearly paid off, and they managed to reach more than 1 mio. impressions with their crucial message. 

#12 List press and partners

I can't stress this enough. This might not be crucial if you are a WWF or a Disney, but if you are smaller than that, list the partners you are working with. 

First to, highlight that you are working on having an impact for them. 

Second, so that potential donors or customers can see who is already trusting you. 

This is the best promo you can get.

After seeing your impressive impact and known partners, it will be an easy sell for you. 

Sugi is already working with big names like Allbirds, Breitling, Louis Vitton & co. I am pretty sure that more will follow. 

Your turn!

5 Actions you can take to start/improve your impact report 

1. Do you even have one? If not, I highly recommend doing some research because I personally believe any nature venture of a certain size (when there are first signs of product market fit) must have one. If you have one, have a look through your last report and critically reflect. 

2. Benchmark other impact reports. Sugi has a phenomenal one, but I also like Coral Gardeners & Wilderlands reports. Learn from the best. 

3. Take notes of the best practices you see

4. Allocate the needed resources for the next impact report to make sure the next one will be incredible

5. Recycle the material of your high-quality impact report into marketing bits for your social media, newsletter, PR, etc. 

Cheat Sheet for your next impact report

Tools: 

Canva - for easy visual design

Vsco - to give your pictures some identity  

Grammarly - to ensure there are no typos

Airtable - to measure your impact

Best practices:

Sugi

Coral Gardeners

Wilderlands 

Website: Sugi

Sugi Founder: Elise Van Middelem

Creating an impact is hard enough. In a perfect world, we wouldn't even need to document our impact. 

Yet our current world isn't perfect. 

So, to convince more people of your nature mission, take impact reporting seriously. 

I hope this case study of Sugi shows you that every minute you put into this will pay off. 

You got this! 

Now, off with you into a micro or big forest; it is Saturday, after all! 

Best,

Oliver

🌿 P.S. If this newsletter brings you value, please consider sharing it with 1 other ecopreneur. It allows me to keep working on it. 

🦧 Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways Wild Business Mates can help you grow and double your impact:

1.1-to-1 business consulting. Detailed and personalized consulting to double the impact of your biodiversity organization in the shortest possible time. Book a free intro call. 

2. Wild Business Mates in Action. Wild Business Mates help you execute in areas you are struggling with. Tech, Marketing, Sales, Communication, etc. We can realize all the steps I mentioned above."