5 Tips for Quality Corporate Citizenship
Finding ways to effectively engage employees, consumers, partners and communities can be a daunting task. Many business leaders find themselves regularly discussing or revisiting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, but all too often they fail to activate these efforts in any meaningful way. If this sounds familiar, we propose a challenge to you and your team:
Instead of falling into the same old routine, make the most of the remaining weeks of summer to get serious about corporate citizenship. Evaluate your company's current stakeholder engagement and top business objectives to put together a plan of action.
To help guide and streamline your team's purpose-activation plan, refer to our quick tips for quality corporate citizenship:
- Compare your citizenship efforts with the CSR initiatives of industry leaders. What are you doing well? What are others doing better? Have you assessed the relevance of your efforts against current issues? How have similar businesses made a meaningful impact?
- Reflect on the causes and organizations your company has supported thus far. Do these involvements logically connect to the context of your business? If not, were the relationships authenticated with clear, honest stakeholder communication? Was this message delivered effectively and across multiple channels?
- Make sure your company's support goes to the right cause. The supported cause(s) should simultaneously resonate with stakeholders and impact your business. Is the cause a priority for your stakeholders? Is the cause a pressing issue for society as a whole? Does the cause have an effect on your business and the community in which it operates?
- Reinforce points of differentiation. Are you highlighting your business' assets (specialized skills, knowledge, resources) when getting involved with the community? What makes your corporate citizenship different from your peers? Why does this difference matter?
- Track and measure your impact. How has your company's efforts affected the business (internally and externally) and the supported cause? Who did you engage with during your efforts and how did these various patrons react? Did you attain the goals you set - how and why? What are the next steps and who is being held accountable?
BONUS TIP: Some companies fear an influx of donation requests once their goodwill is known amongst local nonprofits. Let the community know the types of organizations and relationships (if any) you engage with by communicating how your company determined its right-fit cause. Tell the story of your company's purpose (see Discovery) and how focusing efforts on the right cause offers greater impact. Sharing your company's decision-making process is an opportunity to connect with audiences and consciously manage the breadth of your support.
Ready to profit with purpose? RightCause offers consulting services, educational resources and operational guides for purpose discovery, cause marketing campaigns, events and fundraising. Learn more at rightcauseconsulting.com or email kwright@rightcauseconsulting.com to get started!