Although most businesses are concerned with making a profit to fuel growth and innovation, the days are gone when that should be the only driver behind an organization's decisions. Today the public, governmental authorities, stockholders and employees themselves expect an organization to take into account how their actions impact the community that supports them commercially. In many ways, this recognition of social impact has become a business driver itself.
In June 2013, the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced the creation of the Social Stock Exchange: a vehicle for investing in companies based primarily on their social impact in addition to their financial forecasts. This is a great example of a trend in modern society where more emphasis than ever before is placed on the legacy an organization leaves behind and the reputation it creates while going about the business of business.
How do you balance social responsibility with profitability? It can be a tricky endeavor, but in order to achieve success in both areas, you need a strategy for corporate responsibility that is as complete as a strategy would be for any other area of business.
Creative giving is certainly one solid option. Although any one of the following methods can produce excellent results on its own, a great CSR program will incorporate two, three, or more of these options in complementary ways:
Consider The Environment - Make an effort and commitment to becoming a sustainable, eco-friendly business. This means using sustainable materials, creating a recycling plan, improving energy efficiency and limiting the amount of pollution produced at your place of business.
Corporate Donations - Donating company products or services to worthy causes, including planned monetary donations through a corporate foundation.
Workplace Volunteering - Offering pre-approved volunteer opportunities to employees, including offering paid time off for volunteer activities on company time.
Staff Donations - If donations are complicated and many forms must be filled out, this is a huge deterrent so make the process easy. Automatic payroll deductions each month are one option or you can provide an easy one-time donation option.
Match Employee Gifts - When the company matches the monetary donations from employees, even to a set amount, this doubles the impact and inspires employees to give.
In addition to these creative giving suggestions, you need to think about strategic giving. We all want to do some good, but your program of corporate responsibility won't help anyone if runs counter to the goals and culture already established in your business model. You need to ensure that your giving program aligns with the mission and goals of your business in order for it to succeed.
Strategic giving involves taking a well-planned and balanced approach to the following considerations:
Is a successful program addressing a particular cause viable financially?
Will the company's involvement have enough of a positive impact to justify the cost of the project and the investment of time and resources?
How can we effectively mine business benefits out of charitable efforts? (Do not be ashamed to use your CSR program as a source of positive media, talent recruitment or savvy accounting.)
Is our business set up to fully help and support the charitable cause?
Is there already a culture of philanthropy present at our company or does this need to be established?
Is the upper level of the management team clearly on board with these charitable goals?
Efficiency, however, must be a priority as well. Again, a CSR program - even with excellent intentions - will not make a significant social impact if it is run inefficiently and cannot be sustained over the long term. The financial, personnel, management and organizational considerations that play into a successful CSR program are many and complex. In many cases, the best way to ensure the entire process is being handled as efficiently as possible is to work with a trusted partner organization that can professionally manage many - if not all - of the administrative aspects of your CSR program. This allows you - as a CSR manager or executive - to concentrate more fully on participating personally in the CSR program and encouraging others to do so.
In June 2013, the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced the creation of the Social Stock Exchange: a vehicle for investing in companies based primarily on their social impact in addition to their financial forecasts. This is a great example of a trend in modern society where more emphasis than ever before is placed on the legacy an organization leaves behind and the reputation it creates while going about the business of business.
How do you balance social responsibility with profitability? It can be a tricky endeavor, but in order to achieve success in both areas, you need a strategy for corporate responsibility that is as complete as a strategy would be for any other area of business.
Creative giving is certainly one solid option. Although any one of the following methods can produce excellent results on its own, a great CSR program will incorporate two, three, or more of these options in complementary ways:
Consider The Environment - Make an effort and commitment to becoming a sustainable, eco-friendly business. This means using sustainable materials, creating a recycling plan, improving energy efficiency and limiting the amount of pollution produced at your place of business.
Corporate Donations - Donating company products or services to worthy causes, including planned monetary donations through a corporate foundation.
Workplace Volunteering - Offering pre-approved volunteer opportunities to employees, including offering paid time off for volunteer activities on company time.
Staff Donations - If donations are complicated and many forms must be filled out, this is a huge deterrent so make the process easy. Automatic payroll deductions each month are one option or you can provide an easy one-time donation option.
Match Employee Gifts - When the company matches the monetary donations from employees, even to a set amount, this doubles the impact and inspires employees to give.
In addition to these creative giving suggestions, you need to think about strategic giving. We all want to do some good, but your program of corporate responsibility won't help anyone if runs counter to the goals and culture already established in your business model. You need to ensure that your giving program aligns with the mission and goals of your business in order for it to succeed.
Strategic giving involves taking a well-planned and balanced approach to the following considerations:
Is a successful program addressing a particular cause viable financially?
Will the company's involvement have enough of a positive impact to justify the cost of the project and the investment of time and resources?
How can we effectively mine business benefits out of charitable efforts? (Do not be ashamed to use your CSR program as a source of positive media, talent recruitment or savvy accounting.)
Is our business set up to fully help and support the charitable cause?
Is there already a culture of philanthropy present at our company or does this need to be established?
Is the upper level of the management team clearly on board with these charitable goals?
Efficiency, however, must be a priority as well. Again, a CSR program - even with excellent intentions - will not make a significant social impact if it is run inefficiently and cannot be sustained over the long term. The financial, personnel, management and organizational considerations that play into a successful CSR program are many and complex. In many cases, the best way to ensure the entire process is being handled as efficiently as possible is to work with a trusted partner organization that can professionally manage many - if not all - of the administrative aspects of your CSR program. This allows you - as a CSR manager or executive - to concentrate more fully on participating personally in the CSR program and encouraging others to do so.
About the Author:
Sebastian Troup enjoys writing about philanthropic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. For additional info about the importance of business philanthropy, or to find some corporate giving programs, please go to the Truist.com website now.
No comments:
Post a Comment