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Visit.org has added the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) onto its platform as a way for users to understand their impact on pressing issues such as climate change, health, and inequality. Now, platform users can: see the main SDGs each Visit.org activity supports, learn more about each SDG by clicking on the featured icon, and understand Visit.org’s commitment to these goals on the SDG information page. This SDG feature is not only helpful for those who want a clear understanding of how their participation in a volunteer or team building activity contributes to global sustainability, but it also benefits Visit.org’s nonprofit partners.
At Visit.org we provide experiences of all kinds — from team-building to wellness to volunteering — on our platform. These are run by and give back to mission-driven organizations. These do-good organizations are the heart of their communities. Their efforts are crucial in addressing the social, economic and environmental issues of our time. And now, Visit.org is able to show which Sustainable Development Goal each activity works towards. This creates, for each do-good partner — whether they be nonprofits or social ventures — an infrastructure to begin connecting with the SDGs. Here’s how they benefit:
Becoming a leader
The SDG initiative has been developed through cooperation from within and across the public, private, and nongovernmental sectors. In the United States, even cities are taking steps towards the goals. For instance, New York City’s OneNYC initiative aims to strengthen democracy, increase equity, and confront the climate crisis with bold action. By engaging in movements and conversations like this, nonprofits and other Visit.org do-good partners are able to step up and lead their communities towards achieving the SDGs. While these organizations are already leaders in their communities, seamlessly linking their experiences to the goals, allows their audience to contextualize the org’s work using a global lens, while understanding its impact on a local level.
Gaining supporters and funders
More than ever, Fortune 500 and multinational corporations are engaged in the SDGs and aligning their giving back priorities with goals and targets that are relevant to their sector. Changing core business practices is one of the most influential ways these businesses can use their power for good towards these goals. As a result, they are looking to partner with nonprofits and other do-good organizations who are experts on pressing social issues. They companies want to help these organizations make the world a better place, while engaging employees in work and their community. When nonprofit organizations clearly identify the SDGs they make an impact on, they make themselves more visible, and a more viable partner, to corporate supporters as well as foundations and grant-giving bodies.
Collaborating to solve large issues
The United Nations describes cross-sector collaboration and innovation as essential to achieving the ambitious SDGs. By working with private and government sectors, nonprofits will be able to have a more efficient and wider-reaching impact on the causes they contribute to.
Benefiting from intersectional action
While each SDG contains specific actionable targets and metrics that are used to track progress, these targets are all united under the guiding principle that the world’s largest social issues are interconnected, and cannot be solved in isolation. For instance, the goal of water and sanitation is not addressed only as an environmental issue, but as one that is central to the health of women and girls around the world. By being a part of a multi-sector community that is committed to the SDGs, nonprofits benefit from those who are working to the impact their cause from a different angle. This variety of perspectives and strategies speeds up problem-solving for the world’s most pressing issues.
Amplifying their message on a global scale
The conversation about SDGs is occurring on a global scale. By being a part of it, nonprofits amplify their message to world leaders, institutions, corporations, and others who are also invested in global sustainability. The SDGs are a common language to talk about issues and solutions, thus eliminating misunderstanding across sectors, and streamlining the problem-solving process. While many nonprofits’ work is localized, the cause transcends their immediate community. As part of the network committed to the SDGs, nonprofits will be able to contextualize the value of their work on a global scale, as well as benefit from a growing network of experts from a variety of sectors — all eager and equipped to achieve the development goals.