Tools Archives - NationSwell

Measuring the ROI of Employee Impact Programs

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Posted on May 27, 2026June 29, 2026

Employee-oriented programs are a core part of most corporate impact strategies, including volunteerism, pro bono projects, and employee giving. This resource provides a framework to help leaders and organizations determine the business value of corporate impact strategies, as part of a larger ROI narrative and business case. The resource shares a conceptual ROI model, based on the underlying logic that employee participation leads to talent outcomes, which leads to business outcomes, and ultimately, to financial value. The guidance discusses various measurement approaches, framed as levels of measurement, and provides guidance for program-specific measurement.

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Influence at Work, Part 3: Showcasing impact’s ROI

Building influence requires you to prove that what you’re doing is working.

Making the Case for Investment in Impact

A guide for corporate social impact leaders in securing and growing their organization’s investment in their work.

The Placed-based Action Map

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Posted on May 19, 2026May 29, 2026

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Where is effective place-based impact actually happening, and who is involved? Until now, it’s been difficult to answer that with any clarity.

The Place-Based Impact Map allows users to explore initiatives across the U.S., making it easy to explore what’s happening in your region and others, and who to reach out to for insights. And the map offers place-base leaders an opportunity to promote their work to curious funders and regional supporters. A companion to the Place-based Impact Measurement Toolkit.

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The Principled Approach: Place-based Measurement Toolkit

A toolkit to guide thoughtful, community-led, effective measurement of place-based impact.

Beyond the Map: Rethinking How We Invest in Rural Communities

Takeaways from NationSwell’s March 19 virtual Leader Roundtable, Beyond the Map: Rethinking How We Invest in Rural Philanthropy.

The Principled Approach: Place-based Measurement Toolkit

TOOLKIT

Posted on May 19, 2026July 1, 2026

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Measuring impact can be hard to do accurately and effectively. Place Based Impact Measurement in particular, because every region and neighborhood is different. That can lead to overlapping KPIs and confusion over how to chart progress, and scale good ideas.

So, NationSwell’s Place Based Collaborative have created a new resource to address this gap:‘The Principled Approach’ — A toolkit to guide thoughtful, community-led, effective
measurement of place-based impact.

Whether you are embarking on place based work, or deep into it, this toolkit illuminates the key principles that put communities at the heart of not just the programs being funded, but the way the success of those efforts is quantified. A perfect companion to NationSwell’s Place-based Action Map.

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The Placed-based Action Map

The Impact Map allows users to discover and learn from place-based initiatives across the U.S.

Place-Based Impact: Building Beyond the Pilot

Takeaways from NationSwell’s November 13 Leader Roundtable on Place-Based Impact: Building Beyond the Pilot.

Childcare for All Solutions Wheel

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Posted on January 22, 2026May 26, 2026

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The Case for Childcare Collaborative designed this interactive resource hub to help employers explore childcare solutions that support working families and strengthen their workforce. Through research, real-world examples, and practical tools, the site helps organizations understand the business impact of childcare and identify benefits and policies that work for employees across industries and income levels.

Whether employers are just getting started or expanding existing supports, the platform offers actionable guidance to help build more inclusive, resilient workplaces where workers — and businesses — can thrive.

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NationSwell Launches the ‘Childcare for All’ Site from the Case for Childcare Collaborative

Learn more about the launch of our expanded Case for Childcare Collaborative site advocating for childcare for all workers—especially gig, hourly, part-time and frontline workers.

Why Business Can’t Sit Out the Childcare Crisis: Reflections from Capitol Hill

NationSwell’s Allie Mahler reflects on Hill Day, the first-of-its-kind gathering in Washington, D.C to advocate for child care.

Identifying your Organization’s Impact Superpowers

TOOLKIT

Posted on January 15, 2026August 10, 2026

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Every organization possesses unique strengths that hold potential to drive transformative impact. When applied effectively, these act as superpowers.

Whether you are leveraging innovative technologies, tapping unique expertise, mobilizing extensive networks, or amplifying a trusted brand, understanding your organization’s superpowers allows you to target efforts where they can make the greatest difference.

This toolkit provides practical frameworks, self-assessment tools, and illustrative examples to guide leaders through an exploration of organizational strengths, resources, and opportunities. Use this resource to identify and elevate the capabilities within your organization that have the most potential to effect positive change.

Exercises covered in this toolkit include:

Exercise 1: Impact SWOT
Exercise 2: Asset and Resource Map
Exercise 3: 360 Review
Exercise 4: Impact Wings
Exercise 5: Social Impact Initiative Post-Mortem

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Collective Action Models and Approaches

A practical guide for impact leaders to understand the most prevalent and effective models of collective action

Identifying your Organization’s Impact Superpowers

Practical frameworks, self-assessment tools, and illustrative examples to identify organizational strengths.

Impact Team Offsite-in-a-Box

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Posted on June 4, 2025June 10, 2026

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Team offsite conversations can serve the purposes of reconnecting colleagues, grounding them in a shared organizational ambition and inviting individual and collective ownership over the direction of the team’s work. This resource supports impact leaders with modular sessions to design effective, energizing team offsites that drive clarity, connection, and strategic alignment. It is based on agendas that NationSwell has created for its own team conversations or in partnership with member organizations.

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The NationSwell Council on “The Movement to Reconnect”

Takeaways from the NationSwell Council Salon series on “The Movement to Reconnect”

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Impact X Talent: Scalable and Sustainable Talent Development

Takeaways from NationSwell’s virtual roundtable on Impact X Talent: Scalable and Sustainable Talent Development.

Corporate Impact Investing Design Toolkit

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Posted on May 15, 2025June 10, 2026

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This resource is a toolkit aimed at supporting corporate social impact investors in developing their investment strategy. The toolkit includes seven implementation tools developed from the report, “Seven Critical Design Choices for Corporate Impact Investors.” The tools provide step-by-step actions to structure, integrate, and standardize impact investing practices within corporations.

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Seven critical design choices for corporate impact investors

NationSwell went behind the curtain with four successful and well-established leaders in the space. We dug deep into their investment philosophies, models, and mechanics with the intent to pinpoint the most fundamental design choices that determine a program’s shape and direction.

Collective Action Models and Approaches

A practical guide for impact leaders to understand the most prevalent and effective models of collective action

Funding Response Navigator

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Posted on March 29, 2025July 21, 2026

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This resource serves as a decision-making tool to support philanthropy leaders within private foundations and companies respond to nonprofit funding gaps. It outlines four steps designed to help leaders determine the most appropriate adjustments to a philanthropic strategy. The tool also explains the potential benefits and risks involved in taking specific strategic approaches, and provides adoptable tactics to support strategic changes.

Four steps included in the tool:

1. Assess your foundation’s strategic priorities
2. Identify risks and benefits of action
3. Explore your funding response options
4. Take action

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Resiliency and Innovation in Philanthropy

Takeaways from NationSwell’s March 17 virtual Leader Roundtable, Resiliency and Innovation in Philanthropy

Resiliency and Innovation in Nonprofit Leadership

Takeaways from NationSwell’s virtual Leader Roundtable on Resiliency and Innovation in Nonprofit Leadership.

Place-based Impact Funders Guide

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Posted on January 22, 2025May 26, 2026

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Place-Based Impact in Practice is an interactive guide designed to help funders and changemakers better understand, assess, and implement place-based strategies that create long-term community impact. Through practical frameworks, real-world case studies, interactive assessments, and a national action map, the platform explores how community-centered investment can help address challenges ranging from economic mobility to housing, workforce development, and climate resilience.

Built for philanthropy leaders, nonprofits, and cross-sector partners, the resource helps organizations move from theory to action by highlighting what effective place-based work looks like in practice and what it takes to build lasting, locally driven change

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The Principled Approach: Place-based Measurement Toolkit

A toolkit to guide thoughtful, community-led, effective measurement of place-based impact.

Beyond the Map: Rethinking How We Invest in Rural Communities

Takeaways from NationSwell’s March 19 virtual Leader Roundtable, Beyond the Map: Rethinking How We Invest in Rural Philanthropy.

2024 Election Scenario Planning Toolkit

TOOLKIT

Posted on September 4, 2024August 10, 2026

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In an era marked by sociopolitical uncertainty, businesses and their leaders have a responsibility to their employees, customers, investors, and communities to prepare for a range of plausible impacts that could emerge following the 2024 U.S. general election. Regardless of an organization’s size, sector, or prior engagement in political and social issues, the likelihood is high that electoral outcomes and subsequent societal effects will call upon leaders to make tough calls, negotiate trade offs, and act in response to a range of stakeholder interests. Those leaders will be well-served by the foresight and preparation that scenario planning affords.

NationSwell created this toolkit in an effort to make scenario planning as accessible and effective as possible during election season and beyond. For more comprehensive guidance on the role of business in promoting a healthy democracy, visit our Civics Inc. report.

Who is this for?

The recommended audience for this resource are senior leaders and managers with responsibility over relevant functional areas, including public affairs, communications, social impact, human resources, and legal.

While businesses can and do conduct scenario planning on a large number of topics relevant to their interests, this particular resource focuses on the potential near and mid-term impacts of a U.S. general election on business, free enterprise, and our constitutional republic.

Guidance for use

This resource contains instructions and resources to support election scenario planning exercises. Because there is no one-size-fits-all approach to scenario planning, we advise leaders to review this information and adapt it to the existing practices of their organization. The intent is to make scenario planning as accessible as possible, not to divert organizations away from methods that are already working well.

What’s in the toolkit?