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6 tips for corporate social responsibility

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Last editedMar 20212 min read

From environmental sustainability to supporting global human rights, corporate social responsibility encourages businesses to give back. But developing a strong corporate social responsibility strategy can also boost your brand engagement, making it a win-win.

The characteristics of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are far-reaching. This term can be used to describe any company initiatives designed to contribute towards society, going above and beyond mandatory ethical and legal standards. CSR strategies might focus on the environment, economic sustainability, or social benefits. The main goal is to encourage businesses to take responsibility for their actions, making growth more sustainable.

When implemented effectively, there are many benefits of corporate social responsibility. Consumers actively seek out businesses that provide ethically sourced products or advocate for issues they care about. Benefits of corporate social responsibility include:

A boost to brand awareness
Improvement in public image
Positive press
Strong community connections
Greater employee engagement
Increased customer loyalty

As you can see from these benefits listed above, the importance of corporate social responsibility cannot be understated. However, you need a clear strategy to make the most of these initiatives.

1. Start with the basics.

You can’t get lofty with ambitions if your business isn’t already covering the basic tenets of corporate responsibility. This includes things like paying your employees a living wage with benefits and looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Reduce, reuse, and recycle as part of your everyday office activities, and source sustainable materials for your production lines without greenwashing.

2. Align your brand with like-minded causes.

Instead of firing at random, choose causes that you care about. Otherwise, you run the risk of your CSR appearing insincere to customers and employees. The best course of action is to choose a cause that matches your company’s values, whether it’s diversity or climate change. For example, if you produce gourmet food products you might partner with a food bank. You could start off with a fundraising event or donate a certain percentage of profit to a relevant charity.

3. Gather support from employees.

One of the characteristics of corporate social responsibility is that it’s usually a joint effort amongst employees, so get everyone involved. Making it a team effort builds motivation and engagement. Let your workforce get involved with brainstorming strategies – you never know what innovative ideas they might come up with. In any event, communicate your CSR strategy clearly to the full team, letting everyone know how to participate.

4. Stay local in scope.

CSR strategies that stay local are often the most visible and impactful. This might not be possible for a larger global corporation, but if you run a small business look for charities in your area to support. This helps strengthen community ties and trust in the brand.

5. Crunch the numbers.

There’s no getting around the fact that CSR costs money. As you work out a plan, run the projected numbers through your budgeting tools to determine if the strategy is financially sound. External stakeholders can see the importance of corporate social responsibility, but they still want to see a profit. Track key metrics like stock prices, production costs and return on investment as part of your planning stages.

6. Build new partnerships.

Finally, don’t feel like you have to go it alone. The most successful CSR strategies partner up with local and global experts to make sure your actions aren’t misguided. You might work together with charity leaders, stakeholders from recycling companies, or local council members. This boosts your chances of both recognition and success.

There’s no understating the importance of corporate social responsibility for businesses today. Consumers want to feel good about the products they buy, while companies want to give back to the community. Properly planned and implemented, CSR can have a widespread impact.

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