As a full-service social impact agency, DoGoodery specializes in helping brands achieve their community and social impact goals. The small but mighty team that makes up the agency provides customized strategies and services to clients through a wide range of expertise in critical impact areas.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when you sign on with DoGoodery. Clients receive high-touch treatment from a team that prides itself on delivering full-service projects. At its core, DoGoodery is based on the idea that values-driven brands need specialized support and expertise to create positive social impact.
The Challenge: Building Communities of Practice to Support Social Impact Strategies
Professional learning is one social impact area where DoGoodery has seen increased client interest. In response, Founder and CEO Christiane Maertens has developed the agency’s Learn, Engage, Act, and Grow! Portfolio and built a team with decades of dynamic experience in classrooms, as researchers and in the private sector.
“We’re educators that understand the business of learning,” says Lizabeth Fogel, Ed.D., VP of Learning, Strategy and Development, who oversees the portfolio.
Fogel says companies that work with DoGoodery see corporate social responsibility as something much more than a line item on their budgets. They seek transformative impact and meaningful experiences that have long-term benefits for business and brand.
To support this need, Fogel sought out virtual spaces where members of a client’s target audience could learn and work together in a community of practice.
“It’s something we talk about with our clients. How do we create these communities of practice and show value through literally building community?”
Why Participate? A Solutions Partner
DoGoodery first partnered with Participate when the client specifically wanted to build an online course series with a community space where members could continue to learn and grow with each other.
“We knew that we're not going to build a tool like that in house at DoGoodery. We’re always looking for other people and organizations that can bring their expertise to the table and work with us,” Fogel says. “Being able to bring people together, find solutions and execute is where we have seen success.”
Clients include a multinational Fortune 100 corporation seeking to upskill employees across the globe. Another is a data-driven philanthropic organization seeking to train the next generation of museum educators.
Fogel says the Participate platform provides her team with tools and features that are accessible and customizable. And, she says, DoGoodery has been able to rely on the Participate team’s expertise, pulling the learning design team into client calls to plan projects and answer questions.
“The tools are super easy to use. The team is super easy to work with. Everyone, everything is user friendly,” Fogel said. “For the organizations we're working with, having options has given us a ton of flexibility to start small and grow.”
The Next Chapter: Grassroots Demand for Social Impact
Maertens says that she still encounters a lot of barriers when it comes to making the case for social impact investments. But, she says that there has been an undeniable shift in the expectations and demands from both consumers and employees.
Young professionals value, and are demanding from the bottom up, that the companies they work for show their social impact.
“There's just so much benefit in investing in doing the right thing,” Maertens says.
Want to read more stories of how organizations like DoGoodery have partnered with Participate for meaningful impact?
Participate Solutions Partnerships are specially-designed partnerships to support organizations and consultants to incorporate Participate offerings into a solution for their clients or partners. Partner organizations include agencies such as DoGoodery that want to realize the value of communities of practice for their customers and clients. Learn more about Participate Partnerships.
