Transparency is a foundational pillar of our self-conception. This applies to our internal collaboration as well as our communication with our stakeholders. Therefore, last year, we published our first transparency report.
For the past fiscal year, we wish to inform you about our key success factors. In doing so, we report on the metrics that are particularly important to us and which are based on our success measurement. This report represents an excerpt and is anything but conclusive. We hope the published metrics will arouse interest.
Revenue
To successfully establish and develop a sustainable agency model, a solid economic foundation is required. Investments in social and environmental areas are only possible if the financial resources are available. Hence, for us: Returns from projects for our clients are the necessary condition for our employees, society, and the environment to benefit from our economic activities.
After a profitable year 2022 (re-start after the pandemic), we were able to improve the result in 2023 to a stable level once again and increase the earned agency fee, i.e., the amount we receive for our work, by 13% to 637.69 thousand euros (previous year: +71%). This increase was achieved with an 11% increase in billable hours (previous year: +51%).
Profit-sharing
The economically very strong year provided our employees with a 57% increase in profit-sharing compared to the previous year. This corresponds to a value of 23,522 euros, distributed in the form of payouts or conversions.
Pay and fee progression
The positive economic development over the last two years also enabled a significant raise in base salaries and the introduction of additional benefits. Thus, we were able to make the salary level competitive step by step. The increases were also significantly above the inflation rate.
Our female employees and the lower salary groups benefited particularly. The significantly higher average salary of women additionally results from their increased share within the team. The female quota in 2023 was 80% (incl. freelancers). The lowest salary (converted to a full-time position) increased significantly more than the highest in comparison. The Managing Director earned 2.6 times as much as the employee with the lowest salary (converted to a full-time position).
The proportion of work carried out by our freelancers increased even more in 2023. At the same time, we increased their hourly rates at the end of 2022. This led to significantly increased fees.
Donating a share of our fees
We donate 1% of the agency fee for a social purpose. In 2023, we transferred 3,700 euros to kombinat gGmbH. However, this amount still refers to the 2022 revenue. Our donation recipient for 2023 is sturmfrei e. V., which organises the cultural festival Bel R! in Rüsselsheim. It was still in the process of being founded in December 2023, which is why we will make the donation in 2024.
Pro bono work
We have set ourselves the goal of investing 5% of our time pro bono in projects that make a sustainable social or environmental contribution.
After failing to meet this target in 2021 and 2022, we were able to achieve it again in 2023 and even significantly exceed it with 6.4%.
Our stakeholders rate the importance of the sustainability factors "offering pro bono services for charitable purposes" as well as "donations for charitable purposes" as subordinate (see outlook).
Therefore, we will consider how we will deal with this KPI in the future.
Satisfaction
In our annual agency evaluation, we had to note slightly declining satisfaction values overall, although the satisfaction among the employees has significantly increased. We have drawn our conclusions from this and will continue to invest in the quality of our services in 2024 to increase the satisfaction level.
GHG Emissions
In our 2023 greenhouse gas balance sheet, we, for the first time, accounted for all purchased services related to the implementation of campaigns for our clients. Therefore, the identified values are no longer comparable to previous years, and we refrain from a direct comparison. In total, our business activities caused 74 t of CO2e.
The emission sources are listed in the table below (Scope 3-3 has a low kg value, rounded to "zero"). We also provide a detailed report.
The change in accounting requires us to reassess our reduction goals. This will be one of the tasks for 2024.
Outlook
The year 2024 will be characterized by investments in our range of services, the enhancement of service quality, and the expansion of our competencies. After four years of successful transformation into a sustainable agency model, it is time to take the next step and continue to grow on the basis of the established foundation.
Our new manifesto and our materiality matrix, which we developed in 2023 with the help of our stakeholders, will guide us. From this arises the mandate to achieve a positive impact for the environment and society through our services.
If you have any questions or suggestions relating to our transparency report, or if you would simply like more information, then please get in touch with us!
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