Report

Best Practices for Benchmarking

Supplier inclusion programs are being asked to prove their value in ways they weren’t five years ago. Executive teams want a defensible answer to a simple question: “How does our program compare to the market?” Until now, most practitioners haven’t had the data to answer it.

The typical program puts about 4 cents of every $1 with diverse suppliers. The top 20% put closer to 10 cents. This report, built from verified transaction data across 506 companies and 15 industries, shows what separates them, and how to close the gap.

What you’ll learn:

What 2025 benchmark data reveals about the market: Where the average program stands, how much further ahead the top 20% really are, and why that gap holds regardless of industry or company size
Why an outside reference point changes the conversation: How real benchmark data turns “we don’t know” into a defensible answer, and helps teams find stalled growth, set real goals, and build the case for continued investment
What leading programs do differently: Why they measure diverse and small-business spend separately, look at each category on its own, and refuse to let their industry set the ceiling
How to start benchmarking your program: A five-step framework, from sourcing real outside data to re-benchmarking on a regular cadence
How to move from benchmark to plan: Using category-level gaps to find qualified suppliers already active in the market

Download the report to see where your program stands against 506 companies and 15 industries, and what to do with the gap once you find it.