ScaleWith Launches Product That Embeds Social Impact Funding in RFPs

ScaleWith has launched a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product that helps organizations support their social impact commitments.

The new BuyWith lets businesses and public sector entities embed social impact funding into their request for proposal (RFP) award criteria — an ability that helps both procurement teams and supply chain partners boost their support for social impact commitments — ScaleWith said in a Friday (March 10) press release.

“BuyWith enables procurement and purchasing organizations to galvanize their supply chains to drive better business outcomes that also benefit the communities where they live and work,” ScaleWith Founder and CEO Paul Polizzotto said in the release. “By embedding social impact funding opportunities into their RFP bid criteria, BuyWith customers can advance their sustainability and social impact priorities while conducting business as usual.”

As PYMNTS reported in January, sustainability initiatives are reshaping the retail industry and many others.

When launching a new guide that helps retailers clarify and prioritize their responses to client change, the National Retail Federation (NRF) noted that this interests retailers, customers and investors alike.

“Given growing interest from investors, regulators, supply chain partners, employees and consumers seeking to understand how retailers are responding to climate change, contributors to the guide see value in providing clarity around terms and approaches,” NRF said.

For organizations using BuyWith while developing their RFP award criteria, the new product accesses ScaleWith’s network of 140 social impact partners, identifies the partners and programs that match the buyer’s social impact priorities and enables the buyer to select the funding recipients, according to the press release.

For organizations’ supply chain partners responding to the RFPs, BuyWith makes it easy for them to embed relevant social impact funding incentives into their RFP responses, the release said.

ScaleWith has been working with former Ohio Governor John Kasich to refine the product to meet the needs of state and local governments and plans to offer the product to public sector entities in the spring, per the release.

“There’s a critical financing gap facing local governments that will not be met by the federal government or state governments,” Kasich said in the release. “Using BuyWith, cities, counties and states can turn their everyday purchasing activities into new funding sources for local programs.”