Alliance Data’s CSR Report is stuffed with facts to inform key stakeholders of its efforts

Alliance Data provides data services for a living, so the fact that its CSR annual report is rich with data comes as no surprise. But unlike most CSR reports that highlight programs and activities, Alliance Data reports on progress from a baseline it established in 2013 for its environmental, social and governance performance goals. That’s just one reason for its first-place win in the “One-Time/Annual Report” category of PR Daily’s 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.

The 58-page report is gorgeous in its execution and designed to make understanding Alliance Data’s approach to CSR easy: Each of the four focused sections includes a definition of its responsibility, critical metrics, and a detailed table outlining the organization’s three-year goals against cumulative progress and current year accomplishments

Adopting a format rich in infographics to make the statistics easier to absorb, the report is accompanied by “Spotlight” features that offer a narrative approach to deeper dives into some of the company’s key accomplishments. And although it delves extensively into each of the areas of the company’s CSR activities, the report takes a particularly detailed look at the secure and responsible use of data, a subject of increasing public awareness and concern. 

In addition to the publication, Alliance Data created a microsite—reached through a dedicated URL or a prominent link on the company’s home page—that enhances the printed report’s contents with videos featuring stories and programs representative of the organization’s progress in the key areas of its corporate responsibility strategy. In addition to the usual metrics companies report on a project’s effectiveness, Alliance Data solicited direct feedback from key stakeholders for the first time.

Congratulations to the primary contributors to the report: Garrett Shipman, Shelley Whiddon, Danielle Ricketts and Dana Beckman.