Posts
While it is imperative that your business focuses on profitability and growth, simply focusing only on the money should no longer be the only driving force behind your business model. Today, people expect that a company cares and has a heart, rather than just a bottom line. These people include representatives in the state, local and federal government, as well as your customer, the public at large, stockholders and even your employees.
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.
So how can a company make a positive social impact while thriving financially? The answer comes down to creatively building and implementing a broad corporate social responsibility program that focuses on the doing of good, but does so in a strategic and efficient way.
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:
Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Practices - Part of your mission statement should include your company's commitment to using materials that are environmentally responsible, as well as doing your part to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the mitigation of pollution. A company-wide recycling effort also should be included in this plan which gives back to our environment.
Donate To The Cause -Corporate donations can include monetary contributions as well as the donations of products and services. You can set up a corporate foundation for this purpose.
Encourage Volunteerism - Employees often want to help but don't know what to do or where to find the time. Pay employees for certain volunteering tasks during non-working hours or allow them to volunteer (and still get paid) during the workday.
Employee Donations - Making it easy for employees to donate financially to various causes, either on a one-time basis, or on an ongoing basis via automatic payroll deductions.
Corporate Gift Matching - Offering a match for qualified charitable contributions.
Strategic giving is another component to consider. While few can argue with the doing of good, a CSR program will not be sustainable if it makes no business sense or runs contrary with a company's established culture and goals. And if it is not sustainable, it's not going to have the social impact the organization desires. Instead, setting up the CSR program strategically in line with business goals and the dominant business culture ensures the program will have the support it needs to thrive.
When thinking about strategic giving, it is important to consider the following questions:
Is this CSR program financially feasible for our company?
Will our efforts make a large enough impact to substantiate the investment and effort?
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 the organization set up to fully support this cause?
Is a philanthropic culture already in place or does that need to be further established?
Is the upper level of the management team clearly on board with these charitable goals?
Of course, even if each of these questions garners a positive result, you need to ensure that your CSR plan is run efficiently. The proper management of finances and employees is a huge priority. Every department of your business needs to be run efficiently and monitored and reviewed to ensure maximum growth. This is certainly true with corporate giving programs, and this process can be made far easier by enlisting the services of a partner company that specializes in the management of corporate social responsibility programs. As the manager of your company's CSR program, using a partner organization allows you to spend more time encouraging managers and employees to participate and also gives you some extra time for your own personal participation in charitable giving.
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.
So how can a company make a positive social impact while thriving financially? The answer comes down to creatively building and implementing a broad corporate social responsibility program that focuses on the doing of good, but does so in a strategic and efficient way.
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:
Sustainable/Eco-Friendly Practices - Part of your mission statement should include your company's commitment to using materials that are environmentally responsible, as well as doing your part to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the mitigation of pollution. A company-wide recycling effort also should be included in this plan which gives back to our environment.
Donate To The Cause -Corporate donations can include monetary contributions as well as the donations of products and services. You can set up a corporate foundation for this purpose.
Encourage Volunteerism - Employees often want to help but don't know what to do or where to find the time. Pay employees for certain volunteering tasks during non-working hours or allow them to volunteer (and still get paid) during the workday.
Employee Donations - Making it easy for employees to donate financially to various causes, either on a one-time basis, or on an ongoing basis via automatic payroll deductions.
Corporate Gift Matching - Offering a match for qualified charitable contributions.
Strategic giving is another component to consider. While few can argue with the doing of good, a CSR program will not be sustainable if it makes no business sense or runs contrary with a company's established culture and goals. And if it is not sustainable, it's not going to have the social impact the organization desires. Instead, setting up the CSR program strategically in line with business goals and the dominant business culture ensures the program will have the support it needs to thrive.
When thinking about strategic giving, it is important to consider the following questions:
Is this CSR program financially feasible for our company?
Will our efforts make a large enough impact to substantiate the investment and effort?
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 the organization set up to fully support this cause?
Is a philanthropic culture already in place or does that need to be further established?
Is the upper level of the management team clearly on board with these charitable goals?
Of course, even if each of these questions garners a positive result, you need to ensure that your CSR plan is run efficiently. The proper management of finances and employees is a huge priority. Every department of your business needs to be run efficiently and monitored and reviewed to ensure maximum growth. This is certainly true with corporate giving programs, and this process can be made far easier by enlisting the services of a partner company that specializes in the management of corporate social responsibility programs. As the manager of your company's CSR program, using a partner organization allows you to spend more time encouraging managers and employees to participate and also gives you some extra time for your own personal participation in charitable giving.
About the Author:
Sebastian Troup enjoys blogging about philanthropic solutions for businesses and non profit organizations. For additional information about the importance of business philanthropy, or to find some corporate giving programs, please check out the Truist site today.
No comments:
Post a Comment