Esomar Awards 2025 Silver Winner – Best Social Impact
A new vision for local giving
What does it truly mean to support local communities in a way that’s meaningful and sustainable? For Asda and Asda Foundation, it meant going beyond short-term grant giving to reimagining giving as a long-term, insight-led strategy driven by the voices of the people they support.
This is the story of how they turned their strategy into game-changing, community-led action.
How we put community voices at the centre
We partnered with Asda and The Asda Foundation to launch the Community Insight Tracker Survey – an ongoing research programme that captures the voices of over 1,500 participants, including customers within the Asda Community, in-store Community Champions and groups funded by Asda and Asda Foundation.
Some key features include:
- A flexible survey framework with evolving ‘hot topics’
- The use of consistent questions to track community needs
- Ongoing trend monitoring and recommendations
And this isn’t insight for insight’s sake. The Community Insight Tracker is designed to:
- Make stronger connections with communities
- Uncover long-term needs rather than short-term fixes
- Whilst also enabling real-time action based on emerging issues and who needs support most
The insights gathered through the Community Insight Tracker have been instrumental in refining our funding strategy. By actively listening to the voices of the communities we serve – including local groups and charities – we’ve adopted a theme-based grant model. This approach allows us to align our support with the issues that matter most, enabling us to deliver more focused and meaningful impact where it’s needed most.”
Tracy Butler, Asda Foundation Lead
Insight in action: Delivering community impact
The Community Insight Tracker provides important insight, helping to guide Asda and Asda Foundation’s giving strategy.
In 2025, the Foundation launched a new wave of themed grant programmes. It’s a direct response to data highlighting young people’s challenges around mental health, education and job readiness. This marked a shift in strategy for Asda Foundation: rather than offering general funding, themed programmes enable targeted support around the most pressing community priorities. Earlier insight had already helped to shape the distribution of 2,600 grants worth £3.2 million in 2024 to grassroots organisations across the UK. It also revealed widespread issues like social isolation and inadequate facilities, leading to a £1.2 million commitment to improve 65 community spaces.
A model for sustainable, insight-led giving
The initiative is about more than data – it’s about listening deeply and acting meaningfully.
The Community Insight Tracker gives Asda and The Asda Foundation a richer, more human understanding of the communities they serve. And as needs evolve, so does their giving, ensuring every pound makes a measurable difference, grounded in real voices and real lives.
