Templates and records · ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 6.8.9

ISO 26000 community social investment record template

What the company contributes to the community —money, time, know-how—, to whom and with what result, beyond the figure donated.

In one sentence

The social investment record logs each community project with its amount, volunteering hours, recipient organisation, objectives and measured results; it is good practice for applying the social investment issue covered in clause 6.8.9 of ISO 26000, which recommends favouring what builds lasting capacity over one-off philanthropy.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: ISO 26000:2010 · Clause 6.8.9 Clauses are cited using the numbering of ISO 26000:2010, the only edition published. As it is a guidance standard, no template is mandatory: all are listed as good practice.
Type of information: Good practice Good practice: ISO 26000 is a guidance standard (clause 6.8.9)
Who fills it in: Social responsibility lead Top management approves the annual budget
When: When each project is approved and when it closes With an annual review
How long it is kept: Decided by the organisation As a guidance standard, ISO 26000 sets no retention periods. Keeping several years’ worth lets you show progress over time, which is what stakeholders value most.

What the standard requires

What ISO 26000:2010 demands and what it leaves to your judgement

The guidance treats social investment as putting resources into initiatives that improve social aspects of community life, such as education, health or infrastructure. It recommends taking account of the community’s needs and priorities and avoiding creating dependency.

Philanthropy counts too, but the guidance warns that it is no substitute for integrating social responsibility into the organisation.

Read it in context: Community involvement and development, in the ISO 26000:2010 Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Project, partner organisation and area
Community need addressed and how it was identified
Contribution: amount, hours, in kind
Objective and outcome indicator
Measured result
Employee involvement

Example

Example: agricultural training project (fictitious organisation)

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Project	Pruning and efficient irrigation school with the local council · municipality with 18 % youth unemployment
Contribution	€24,000 and 160 hours from the cooperative’s technical staff
Objective	Train 40 young people and have at least half find work in the district
2026 result	38 trained · 23 in work, 11 of them hired by the cooperative itself
Need identified	Annual meeting with the local council and the core subjects assessment

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

Only the amount donated is recorded, not the result.
Projects do not respond to any identified need.
Promotional sponsorship is lumped in with social investment.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Community involvement initiatives are kept as versioned records.
2Annual social investment is documented with its amount and purpose.
3Community impact feeds into the annual system review.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Does sponsorship count as social investment?

Only if its main purpose is to benefit the community. If it is mainly advertising, it is best logged separately so as not to inflate the figure.

How is the result measured?

With an indicator set at the outset and tied to the project’s objective: people trained and employed, services delivered, a measured improvement. The amount invested is a measure of effort, not of results.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

ISO 26000:2010 — Guidance on social responsibility ISO · 2010 ed.
SGE 21. Sistema de Gestión Ética, Sostenible y Responsable (Ethical, Sustainable and Responsible Management System) Forética · October 2024 version