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Cash-based Levers for Economic Mobility

Cash-based Levers for Economic Mobility

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Additional income is not a cure-all for poverty; health, housing, food security, and many other factors also play critical roles in an individual’s stability and well-being. However, the role of cash and savings is receiving growing attention and showing positive impact, as organizations test approaches like guaranteed income programs, changes to tax credits, and more. This resource provides an overview of various cash-based levers that drive economic mobility. 

Levers include: 

  • Universal Basic Income (UBI)
  • Guaranteed Income
  • Increasing the minimum wage
  • Baby bonds
  • Individual Development Account (IDA)
  • Financial reparations
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Impact Team Offsite-in-a-Box

Impact Team Offsite-in-a-Box

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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Corporate Impact Investing Design Toolkit

Corporate Impact Investing Design Toolkit

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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Corporate Social Impact Models and Approaches

Corporate Social Impact Models and Approaches

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This practical guide is designed to help leaders and organizations orient their existing social impact strategies within a larger context, and identify opportunities to progress.

The guide includes four models of corporate social impact in practice today, ranging from CSR to business-integrated strategies. Each model includes definitions, actionable recommendations, and real-world case examples. The goal is to help leaders determine the best way to deepen impact within your organization, which may mean advancing from one model to the next or further developing your current model.

The models covered in this guide include:

  • Traditional CSR
  • Asset-driven impact
  • Shared value initiatives
  • Systems change leadership
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Funding Response Navigator

Funding Response Navigator

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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Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses

Entrepreneurship is a powerful driver of economic opportunity, yet many small business owners face systemic barriers to growth, including limited access to capital, business education, and professional networks. To address these challenges, the Goldman Sachs Foundation launched 10,000 Small Businesses – a nationwide initiative designed to provide practical business education, peer support, and access to funding to help small enterprises scale and succeed. The program has supported over 16,600 graduates across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. This case study outlines the core components that make this initiative effective and replicable.

 

Key components of the model:

  • Selective yet accessible participation
  • Durable and practical curriculum
  • Strategic partnerships for scale
  • Adaptive delivery model
  • Lifelong learning and alumni support
  • Goldman Sachs employee engagement

Notable results and impact:

  • 66% of participants see increased revenue within six months
  • Nearly 50% create new jobs shortly after completing the program
  • 85% of alumni continue doing business with each other, demonstrating the program’s networking value
  • Participants report greater confidence in financial decision-making, fueling long-term sustainability
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Snapshot of Employee Engagement Trends

Snapshot of Employee Engagement Trends

NationSwell surveyed 60 impact leaders between February 26 and March 5 to better understand employee sentiment and engagement trends in early 2025. Participants ranged across organization types, including corporations, non-profit organizations, corporate foundations, and private philanthropies. This resource provides key learnings from the research, as well as four ways impact leaders can boost engagement. 

Key learnings and results from that survey include:

  • Employee engagement is trending lower in 2025
  • Leadership communication is inconsistent
  • Most engagement initiatives remain, but flexible work is being reduced
  • Burnout is the top engagement challenge
  • Employees need more transparency leadership
  • Most organizations use engagement data to support their business case

Four ways impact leaders can boost engagement:

  • Make the case for internal transparency between leadership and employees
  • Defend essential employee engagement infrastructure
  • Collaborate with HR partners on workforce wellbeing initiatives
  • Invest deeply in making work purposeful for employees, regardless of setting
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What’s Happening in DEI

What’s Happening in DEI

Are you a leader navigating DEI backlash and looking for clarity you can act on? This resource distills the political, cultural, and economic forces shaping corporate DEI, and unpacks how companies are responding to mounting threats. In this report, you’ll find actionable archetypes and strategic considerations to inform your organization’s path forward.

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Q1 2025 Social Impact Trends

Q1 2025 Social Impact Trends

Q1 2025 marked one of the most turbulent periods for the social impact sector since the COVID-19 pandemic. What emerged was a mix of reactive, proactive, and strategic responses: creating shared value, evolving DEI approaches, strengthening supports and deepening engagement, and advancing collective action.

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Effective Storytelling Strategies for Impact Leaders

Effective Storytelling Strategies for Impact Leaders

This resource is a practical guide for impact leaders looking to build or refresh their storytelling strategy. It distills several key components to building meaningful impact stories, including understanding key audiences, mapping out appropriate channels and timing, and developing meaningful and action-oriented messaging and content. The guide also includes examples from the NationSwell community to illustrate storytelling in action. The aim is to tell stories that are creative, human-centered, and audience-first. 

The components covered in this guide include:

  • Goals
  • Audience
  • Channel
  • Timing
  • Core Message
  • Call-to-action
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