The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a simple framework for organizations across sectors to address society’s biggest challenges. Learn how organizations operationalize the SDGs—as well as some  obstacles they face—in our new report.

Ratified by 193 countries in 2015, the SDGs help governments, nonprofits, and companies align their own social and environmental efforts with a global initiative. With a target date of 2030 to meet these goals, the clock is ticking. 

As a member of the global B Corp community, we believe that organizations—nonprofits, corporations, or government agencies alike—should use their resources toward shared prosperity for all. The SDGs provide a great way to frame this work as well as countless opportunities to pool resources and accelerate solutions. 

In our research, Mightybytes wanted to understand what, if anything, organizations do to approach these goals. To deepen our understanding, we embarked on an informal research project with our friend and sustainability expert, JD Capuano. Together, we compiled a report with our findings, which you can download below.

Why We Did This Research

So much reporting on the SDGs has focused on UN Global Compact members, organizations that have formally committed to moving the SDGs forward. This is wonderful, but the majority of companies, NGOs, and government organizations are not part of that group. We wanted to learn how (or if) these entities tie their own purpose-driven work to a broader framework like the SDGs. And, just as important, what drives or impedes their progress? 

Major Takeaways

We reached out to dozens of organizations across government, nonprofit, and business sectors. Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents came from business. This tells us that opportunities exist to engage nonprofits and government agencies in this work and encourage them to forge SDG-driven partnerships with for-profit companies, who may not have their expertise in solving social and environmental problems. 

The research also reminded us that purpose-driven organizations like B Corps and other social enterprises are more advanced in executing SDG-related projects, yet all organizations struggle with effective storytelling and engagement around purpose-driven initiatives. We also identified other core obstacles to progress, learned that climate action is a top priority, and heard some inspiring success stories as well. 

There are many more takeaways in the report. If you are reading this and participated in our research, thank you! We are so grateful for your help. All participants were incredibly open, candid, and willing to share stories of both success and failure. These traits are critical not only for successful SDG projects, but to be successful in this time of uncertainty, disruption, and political unrest.

To access the report, simply drop in your information below and click submit. Thank you.