Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is good for business. In fact, the Harvard Business Review points out that 70% of Americans believe it’s important for companies to make the world a better place. Recent research from Forrester and Ivalua found that 69% of companies surveyed increased sales in response to a CSR initiative. That’s good news for SaaS companies with noble missions; they give back while accelerating SaaS customer retention rates and sales.
Here are 5 examples of SaaS teams with their hearts in the right place and the success to prove it:
BigCommerce: Help Build a Passionate Workforce
Texas-based BigCommerce offers a suite of tools for e-commerce businesses to optimize conversions, enhance website performance, and improve SEO results. The company encourages employees to initiate charitable projects they’re passionate about.
They’ve long supported Texas Humane Heroes animal rescue and the Partnerships for Children’s Holiday Wishes Toy Drive. They also work with Equality Texas to help LGBTQ+ causes and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.
BigCommerce’s culture of giving back has helped them improve SaaS customer retention rates and increase sales. After going public just last year, the stock price has doubled, and they reached an annual revenue run rate of more than $181 million in 2020.
Selflessly: Create a World of Corporate Givers
Selflessly helps other companies encourage a culture of giving back. They offer tools for employees to give time and/or money to causes they choose. And the subscribing companies can track their team’s impact, sharing it with their community and customer base.
Selflessly partners with organizations such as Startup Ladies, which supports women entrepreneurs, and NGLCC, the largest advocacy group dedicated to expanding economic opportunities for LBGTQ+ people. The company doubled year-over-year revenue from 2020 to 2021 and just closed a round of funding in July.
Orders.co: Grow SaaS Customer Retention Rates by Helping Out a Struggling Market
Orders.co helps restaurant owners manage deliveries and online ordering. They offer tools for handling orders from popular services such as GrubHub and UberEats, including menu setup, online ordering websites, and consolidated reporting.
This SaaS company realized that COVID-19 caused many restaurant customers to shift from in-house dining to delivery and threatened the businesses and jobs of eateries that weren’t set up to handle the change. Orders.co helps these companies out, keeping the restaurant market strong and growing their SaaS customer retention rates at the same time.
InitLive: Give Non-Profits More Time for Their Cause
InitLive helps companies and non-profits attract volunteers and manage fundraising events so organizers spend less time on administration and more on their mission. They offer web-based tools and mobile apps to help people discover fundraising events or volunteering opportunities and register for them. Event coordinators can also use the mobile app to track volunteer check-ins and connect with participants to promote a smooth and successful operation.
The company lives their own values as well, giving each employee 20 hours of paid time to volunteer for a cause they believe in and donating their software to small non-profits who need help getting started. In response to the 2020 pandemic, InitLive donated their software to the United Way/Centraide in Ottowa, Canada to recruit volunteers to deliver meals and household items to isolated and vulnerable people.
Every POINT ONE: Open Science and Technology Careers to Everyone
Science and technology companies take a hit in the news every now and then for lacking in diversity. Every POINT ONE has developed a SaaS platform to help them create a governance and recruitment policy for a more inclusive, diverse, ethical, and unbiased workforce.
Because Every POINT ONE is dedicated to their mission, they offer a freemium plan to help companies design inclusive recruitment policies. For subscribers, they provide consulting and policy review for all aspects of a business, including HR, sales, marketing, product development, and leadership.
Corporate Social Responsibility has Clear Benefits for SaaS Customer Retention
Regardless of your offering, any SaaS organization can reap the benefits of giving back to your community. Freemium plans and software donations help small customers in your market while corporate giving and volunteering support the community. And there’s no better feeling than seeing your business grow while making the world a better place. Your customers also feel good about your noble missions.
