As a CSR manager with over fifteen years of experience, I’ve had the privilege of working within multiple organisations, both big and small, to build, manage or improve their social responsibility efforts.
As any corporate manager knows, it’s never an easy task to develop, run, and manage corporate CSR programmes. I’ve seen both the highs and lows of managing the internal and external CSR activities. But recently, I’ve learnt that integrating CSR software can make a tremendous difference for managers like me.
So, in the spirit of “paying it forward”, in this article, I share and compare my experience of working with five different CSR platforms and my personal ratings.
1. KindLink (Best CSR Platform Overall)
Pros
One Platform for Everything
The top reason why I rank KindLink as #1 is that it combines all CSR functions into a single, integrated platform. Rather than managing two platforms, one for ESG reporting and another for volunteering, I could simply concentrate on one CSR programme for overall management. From an investment point of view, it is an absolute win-win.
Managing Employee Participation
Every CSR manager knows how difficult it can be to encourage employees to participate. It gets more difficult to coordinate and manage, especially for a large organisation. Unlike the other CSR platforms I’ve worked with, KindLink made it easy to manage and record employee participation in raising funds, payroll giving or donation matching.
Its HR and employee engagement solution also helped us when we were working with the HR team to integrate CSR activities into onboarding and recruitment.
Easy Connect with Charities
Partnering with charities can be a time-consuming task, and not all CSR teams have the time to go through a huge database of charities. But as KindLink has its own charity CRM, it was so much easier to find an updated marketplace of registered, vetted charities to connect and work with.
Recording and Reporting Impact
My team and I found that KindLink made the admin-heavy task of reporting so much easier. We could record our CSR efforts in terms of hours volunteered, products donated, and more, which made it easier to collate and generate reports.
Cons
Wider Scope for Small Companies
When working with a startup, we didn’t really use the wide feature range in the initial days. But it didn’t take long to understand and integrate it into our processes.
Pricing
Clear and transparent pricing with no hidden fees or gimmicks. I remember how we began with the free plan, exploring all the features, and subsequently signed up for the upgrade, which was quite affordable then, and is so even now.
My Rating – 4.5/5
I’m quite pleased with my experience with KindLink and give it a solid 4.5/5. I would highly recommend it for businesses of all types.
2. Deed
Pros
Employee-Friendly
My team in a mid-sized organisation was using Deed before I joined. My team and I found its UX to be quite user-friendly, maybe because of its positioning as a social app rather than a corporate social responsibility tool.
Good HR Integrations
It was easy to integrate Deed with our HR systems and with Slack and MS Teams for our internal team communication.
Customer Support
Deed’s customer support team is quick to respond to our raised queries.
Cons
CSR Metrics
While recording CSR activities, my team found it was difficult to customise CSR metrics without development involvement. That was one of the roadblocks we faced.
Reporting Features
Although the reporting functions were easy to access, they lacked depth, unlike specialised CSR reporting tools.
Pricing
Deed doesn’t mention their pricing openly, but from my experience, it varies depending on your organisation’s size and requirements. It falls in the mid to premium range.
My Rating – 4/5
I would say it’s a good CSR platform with superior UX.
3. Selflessly
Pros
Combines Donation and Volunteer Management
A few days into using Selflessly, and you know that it’s been designed by people who clearly understand the corporate and non-corporate sectors. Almost similar to KindLink, what stood out to me is combining donations, volunteering, and grants into one platform.
Integration Capabilities
It worked well for our team when we were looking to integrate with our Microsoft 365 subscription. It also integrates with Salesforce.
Quick Onboarding
Based on my team’s feedback, I found the onboarding quite easy and friendly.
Cons
Limited Social Sharing
We found Selflessly with very limited social sharing functionalities, so we had to put in extra effort to drive social sharing within our internal teams.
Less Flexible for Complex CSR Programmes
It may not work as smoothly with organisations with complex CSR programmes.
Pricing
Like KindLink, Selflessly is clear and transparent in its pricing terms. It starts at about $300–$500/month for small companies and increases with workforce size and features.
My Rating – 4/5
Go for it if you’re looking for a simple CSR platform without much customisation.
4. GoodUp
Pros
Purpose Focused
The good thing about GoodUp is that it truly encourages purpose-driven and impact-driven action. We were quite happy with the internal engagement campaigns they created.
Storytelling and Sharing
GoodUp has excellent sharing and storytelling features built in. I particularly like how they keep your internal teams inspired and motivated to continue with the good work.
Cons
Dated UX
GoodUp offers a functional interface, but it lacks a modern touch.
Longer Onboarding Times
Onboarding took longer than most other CSR platforms I’ve worked with.
Pricing
Similar to Deed, GoodUp operates a quote-based pricing model. In my experience, it falls in the mid-to-high-tier pricing.
My Rating – 3.5/5
An option to consider if your company wants a platform with impressive storytelling capabilities.
5. Optimy
Pros
Highly Customisable Workflows
As someone who’s juggled multiple CSR programmes globally, I’ve found Optimy to be extremely suited for large corporations. You can customise its workflows to suit the complexity and scope of audit trails.
Flexible Grant Management and Sponsorships
It offers great flexibility in managing sponsorships and grants for charities.
Cons
Steep Learning Curve
In my opinion, Optimy’s steep learning curve may not be ideal, particularly for those new to or just starting with a CSR platform.
Interface Seems Dated
While it offers good volunteering, grant, and sponsorship tools, the overall interface lacks modernity.
More Expensive
I feel its pricing leans more towards enterprise users and may not be great for small teams.
Pricing
Optimy offers an enterprise pricing model, which is quite higher than the average CSR software. You may have to pay more for advanced customisation features.
My Rating – 3.5/5
I think it’s an enterprise-ready CSR solution only if you’re ready for the heavy investment.
Summing Up
After years of working in corporate CSR operations and trying multiple CSR platforms, I’ve realised that no platform is perfect. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s all about finding the one that is right for your organisation’s culture and goals. Having shared my personal insights and experience with these CSR platforms, I hope it helps other CSR professionals out there make more confident, informed choices and make a lasting, positive and measurable impact.
