The Community Impact Index is based on research into the investment in communities from the largest consumer-facing co-operatives in the UK, as well as the largest non-co-op retailers.
Embodying co-operative principles within the research, the index looks at how the sector shows ‘concern for the community’ and ‘co-operation among co-operatives’.
In order to make meaningful comparisons between co-operatives and their mainstream competitors, quantitative data on the following community investment sub-categories of activity has been collected, which includes: total investment in charitable activity; total investment in community activity; volunteering activity; and support for co-operative development.