Going from Strategy to Impact. versaic.com

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1 Going from Strategy to Impact versaic.com 1/12

2 Introduction At Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Global Citizenship is a cornerstone of At Starwood, we have the business- strengthening resilience and driving positive social impact in an big goals in terms of age of continuous global change. Starwood enlists its global network of hotels, its world-renowned brands, and dedicated associates in implementing its Global moving the needle on Citizenship initiatives to ensure its environmental and social standards are consistently upheld. to do things differently A critical component of Starwood s Global Citizenship objectives are five Social Responsibility focus areas that drive positive impact in communities around the and needed a partner world: Workplace Readiness, Human Rights, Conservation, Disaster Relief and Community Vitality. The mission of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide who could team with Foundation, Inc. (Starwood Foundation) is to act as a catalyst for global societal us to create a system growth & development, ensuring associates, residents, visitors and local businesses can experience vibrant and thriving communities. By developing strategic partnerships that leverage its resources and expertise to address critical local needs, the Foundation empowers communities to build and sustain the economic, impact and accomplish social and community vitality of regions where Starwood Hotels operate now and in the future. partner in Versaic. Versaic Grants is the engine that helps Starwood Hotels and the Starwood Foundation ( Starwood ) track, quantify and evaluate their social impact. Starwood needed a system to make the complex simple. Versaic launched a solution for Starwood that not only met, but exceeded, all of its requirements. Here s how Starwood and Versaic went from concept to implementation, to impact. social change. We set out that would help us build our goals. We found that Kristin Meyer Associate Director, Community Partnerships, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. versaic.com 2/12

3 CHAPTER ONE Establishing Mission and Focus Since 2009, Global Citizenship has been a cornerstone of Starwood s business strategy. Starwood s Social Responsibility team and the Starwood Foundation is a core building block of that strategy, chartered with building relationships with critical community stakeholders to mitigate risks and maximize benefits in the communities where Starwood does business. Starwood s ambitions are big. The four-person Social Responsibility team has much to accomplish. To establish focus areas that would address the most pertinent needs of the community while capitalizing on Starwood s strengths, the Social Responsibility team turned internally to their own associates to offer We work tirelessly guidance. After multiple stakeholder interviews, focus groups and strategy to integrate Global sessions evaluating different aspects of the business, the team could identify the alignment between of our organization... community development objectives and Starwood s strategic goals. The as we continue our exercise resulted in five areas of focus journey for a better, which drive Starwood s philanthropic, volunteer and community engagement activities. Citizenship into the fabric more sustainable world. Ken Siegel Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Chairman of the Board, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Foundation, Inc. versaic.com 3/12

4 Starwood s Social Responsibility Focus Areas Starwood s ability to influence lasting, sustainable improvements in communities around the globe is accomplished through collaborative partnerships with international charitable organizations. Starwood is dedicated to enriching communities by supplying financial grants and collaborative partnerships to select organizations driving change in the following focus areas: WORKPLACE READINESS COMMUNITY VITALITY CONSERVATION DISASTER RELIEF HUMAN RIGHTS Prepare underserved individuals for obtaining employment within their community to promote economic growth of local communities. Preserve and support the unique aspects of a community to support local growth and sustain as a tourist destination. Conserve and protect natural resources by sourcing goods and services responsibly and actively engaging Starwood associates in environmental sustainability efforts locally. Respond to the individual, employee, and community needs arising from emergency situations. Support awareness and advocacy for human rights issues around the world. versaic.com 4/12

5 CHAPTER TWO Formulating the Plan Starting with their signature program, Workplace Readiness, the team at Starwood needed to build a plan so they could start their fiscal year ready to go. Many questions were raised and potential challenges identified: How do we identify potential partners that align with our focus areas? How do we educate potential grant partners? How can we establish a rigorous yet streamlined selection process? How do we build for impact from the beginning? How do we strengthen relationships with grantees and support mutual goals? How do we manage the volume of requests? How can we do the comprehensive tracking and reporting that s required? How can we get started right away and phase other elements of the system in over the course of the first year? The only way this group could tackle the project was by making the team and the process as streamlined and efficient as possible. They knew they needed to automate the process but wanted a system that was flexible and worked the way they worked. They needed a partner to consult with them and bring fresh ideas and best practices. They needed to keep an eye on their budget. At the time, Starwood s ambitious goals were not matched by an infrastructure or approach to help act on those intentions to the fullest extent. Its grantmaking needed more focus and clarity to take it to the next level. The team knew they wanted to make a bigger impact and needed to take a more deliberate approach. versaic.com 5/12

6 CHAPTER TWO Formulating the Plan Starwood engaged with Results starting with results, they could shape Consultants at The Rensselaerville their approach for identifying partners, Institute (TRI) to bring its strategy educating those partners, aligning to life. TRI helped Starwood make a application questions, linking the mindset shift from acting as a funder selection process, grantee reporting, to acting as an investor looking and performance assessments to for the highest human gain for the their result framework. Starwood was available dollars. With that perspective, able to bring a results focus to its the foundation staff created a strategic giving by defining, tracking, assessing result framework to clarify results for and improving results for their their signature program grants. By grantmaking. The Starwood team understands that their grantee s results ARE the Foundation s results. It s that mindset that drives how Starwood partners with their grantees to achieve those results together. Together they use results data to learn what works and doesn t work and aim support towards course corrections that will improve results over time. Wendy Watson-Hallowell Executive Director, Results Consulting, The Rensselaerville Institute versaic.com 6/12

7 CHAPTER TWO Impact Framework WORKPLACE READINESS STRATEGIC RESULT FRAMEWORK Strategy Funding Priorities Desired Results Program Types Impact Address the skills and access gaps faced by underserved* or unemployed residents in current and future Starwood Communities Fostering Employment Unemployed local residents obtain and retain local living wage jobs Hard Skill Training Soft Skill Training Social Skills Training A skilled and diverse local workforce that drives business growth and economic success HOW WE CONTRIBUTE Direct Service Grants Capacity Building Grants System Reform Grants Associate Engagement Associate Advocates Collaborative Partnerships Career Development Employer Readiness Local workers advance into higher career opportunities Local employers change their practices and policies to employ, retrain and advance local residents Advanced Skill Training Leadership and Management Training Global Mindedness Employer Engagement Job Matching Workforce Skill Development & Training *Underserved socially, geographically or economically versaic.com 7/12

8 CHAPTER TWO The Starwood Approach to Impact IMPACT FUNDING TYPE GRANT TYPE FOCUS COMMUNITY VITALITY Funding Funding CONSERVATION Capacity Building Career Development WORKPLACE READINESS Programmatic Fostering Employment Increase number of youth and adults who obtain and retain living wage jobs, report increase in quality of life, and express interest in career advancement DISASTER RELIEF Employee Readiness Systems Change Funding HUMAN RIGHTS versaic.com 8/12

9 CHAPTER THREE Implementing the System With Versaic on board with Starwood, it was time to get started. Clients say that getting started with Versaic couldn t be easier and it was no exception with Starwood. Starwood was an enthusiastic partner in the entire process. The team provided direction on their unique vision and perspective about how their grantmaking should work. The team at Starwood views the grants management system as a vehicle for bringing their vision to life as well as an opportunity to accurately track results by working collaboratively with their community partners. The Versaic Client Success team brought deep experience to the table along with best practices that helped the Starwood and TRI teams fill in the fine detail on their plans. In many cases, the Versaic team raised issues they hadn t thought of or wouldn t have been in a position to anticipate, helping to save time and streamline the implementation process. Together the teams crafted the right questions to ensure that all the necessary information would be collected from charitable partnerships, from initial proposal through impact data collected post-grant. The Starwood grantmaking process is multi-faceted. For example, in workplace readiness there are a variety of potential funding paths that can be taken, all with different outcomes and impact. There are custom questions for each area with corresponding initial, interim and final data/reports for each. The flexibility of the Versaic solution made it possible to do exactly what Starwood needed and make its complex process streamlined and manageable. As with any implementation process, it s difficult to anticipate everything that might happen and the Versaic team was ready for last-minute changes and requests. Starwood was no exception. One curveball came relatively early in the process when the Starwood team decided to track the entire Foundation budget using the Versaic system and include components that go well beyond grantmaking. They also wanted to ensure their internal finance teams would not be burdened by the system but rather see it as an advantage for taking care of administrative tasks such as check writing and grant fulfillment. Together the teams mapped out a solution that would work for everyone at Starwood and Versaic delivered a system with the capabilities they needed, on time and on budget. versaic.com 9/12

10 CHAPTER THREE Starwood System Overview Every step of the grants management process is supported by the Versaic system EVALUATE INVESTMENT GOALS Discuss grant renewal and investment priorities PROSPECTIVE PARTNERS Train prospective NGO s on results framework & milestone tracking Scorecards & Portfolio Reporting Online Grant Application MEASURE OVERALL IMPACT Confirm/discuss results and impact to date VERSAIC TOOLS COLLECT FORMAL PROPOSALS Guide NGO s through application, results projections and outline deliverables Results Tracking Approval Tracking & Budget Module CAPTURE IMPACT DETAILS Guide NGO s in completing mid and final grant reporting to track progress INTERNAL REVIEW & SELECTION Approve request, track approval documentation and activate approval workflow versaic.com 10/12

11 CHAPTER FOUR System Launch & Results In a matter of weeks, the Starwood system was launched. Working side by side with Starwood, Versaic adjusted the system to work around last-minute requirements. Versaic continues to tweak the system to adapt to Starwood s changing needs, something that the Starwood team values. No doubt Versaic will continue to add and adjust as the Starwood grants program grows and changes. In the meantime, they are fully operational and on their way to reaching their ambitious goals. After the initial launch, Versaic continued to phase in additional elements to the system. For example, the system now includes results cards that give the Starwood team an assessment of how each grantee is doing during the grant period. These progress reports help ensure that grantees have the ability to share their results and learnings and give Starwood an opportunity to engage with grantees who might need additional support or guidance in order to accomplish their goals. versaic.com 11/12

12 For additional information, please visit The Starwood Foundation, Versaic and The Rensselaerville Institute. Special thanks to the team at the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Foundation for sharing their story and supporting the development of this ebook. versaic.com 12/12