Today, IMPACT ROI released “Project ROI 2025: Determining the Competitive and Financial Advantages of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability,” reaffirming the finding that sustainability/corporate responsibility drives financial and competitive value for companies.

Building on 2015’s original landmark report, this last decade’s data – gleaned from an investigation of more than 600 studies and reports from academic journals, think tanks, and private sector organizations – Project ROI’s 2025 update settles the longstanding debate. Companies that properly implement sustainability/corporate responsibility business practices see a substantial financial return on those investments.

From enhancements to firm performance, sales, and risk reduction, research found that sustainability/corporate responsibility has the potential to boost:

• Firm Value by as much as 36%
• Profitability by as much as 21%
• Sales by as much as 20%
• Shareholder Returns by as much as 6%

Sponsored by Lead Sponsor MassMutual, and Contributing Sponsors MODO and Loomis Sayles, the report includes the 2025 Project ROI Value and Impact Creating Framework, a roadmap for the best implementation of sustainability/corporate responsibility.

“Once again, this report delivers the data every C-suite team and board of directors needs,” said Steve Rochlin, CEO of Impact ROI and lead author of the report. “Sustainable and responsible business practices are directly linked and can improve – when done well – a company’s bottom line and value proposition to the world. The numbers are abundantly clear.”

Since the publication of the original report, there has been an explosion of sustainability activity. Thousands of companies have released ambitious targets to reduce their environmental footprints and utilize their capabilities to improve the conditions of communities and ecosystems worldwide, and sustainability reporting has emerged as a standard practice. Ten years later, Project ROI’s objective remains the same: to assess the business case for sustainability and quantify the potential return on investment it can deliver.

“We have found that business leaders who apply an entrepreneurial approach to creating economic and societal value simultaneously continually achieve these research-proven benefits,” said Cheryl Kiser, former founding executive director of Babson College’s Institute for Social Innovation and report co-author.

“American companies play an important role in the vitality of communities across our country and beyond, and data shows that with increasing frequency that employees, customers, and prospects are some of the most interested stakeholders in how companies comport themselves in society,” said Dennis Duquette, head of Community Responsibility at MassMutual and president of the MassMutual Foundation. “The ability of organizations to mobilize not just financial resources, but also intellectual and social capital for the benefit of the community matters, and this report codifies the intrinsic value of a well-formulated, authentic corporate responsibility and sustainability posture and how it can benefit the bottom line.”

For more information and to review the report, visit https://www.impactroiglobal.com/project-roi/

Ten years ago IMPACT ROI and our Academic Partner, Babson College, with the support of Lead Sponsor Verizon and Contributing Sponsor The Campbell Soup Company, collaborated to produce “Project ROI: Defining the Competitive and Financial Advantages of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.” The landmark Report quantified the business case for social and environmental sustainability and corporate responsibility (CR). We’re thrilled to announce the 2025 update will launch soon! Sponsored by Lead Sponsor MassMutual, and Contributing Sponsors MODO and Loomis Sayles, the 2025 update Report reinforces the finding that Sustainability/Corporate Responsibility (CR) helps drive financial and competitive value for companies, but only if companies do it well. Based on an analysis of 640 studies, The 2025 study shares evidence of the quantified value of sustainability/CR for financial performance supplemented with case examples of companies using sustainability/CR to drive financial and competitive value. The 2025 Report also updates the framework of essential practices that business leaders employ to use sustainability/CR to drive superior outcomes for profit, people, and planet. The 2025 Update is set to launch on October 14, 2025. On that date you can find a copy of the 2025 Report for free download by visiting https://www.impactroiglobal.com/project-roi/