My ears perked up when I heard the words “save you money” at a recent CSR event hosted by Jane Madden, SVP of CSR and Sustainability at Edelman.  The guest speaker, Sharon Feigon, CEO of I-Go Car Sharing, explained how her organization has grown beyond individuals to serve businesses and local governments.  “While most of our customers really believe in our social and environmental impact, it’s truly the price that makes or breaks the sale,” she said.  Currently a member of another car share program, I was intrigued.

Earlier this month, Starbucks hosted a Summit with leading corporations and international NGOs to discuss “Measuring the Value of Community Service”.  Mission Measurement facilitated this crucial discussion and helped tease out the social and business outcomes that corporate volunteerism advances.  Starbucks isn’t the first corporation or NGO to grapple with this question, but there are many challenges that have impeded a solution to measuring the value of corporate community service.

“The business just doesn’t get what we’re trying to do here!” “The C-suite doesn’t have time to spend on this…it’s not at the top of their priority list.” “…We have a strategy.  We’re just looking for Marketing to help us with the tagline.” 

More than 1000 representatives from corporations, NGOs and governments gathered in San Francisco last week for the annual Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) conference.  The long-standing conference covered 4 days this year, beginning with pre-conference trainings on Tuesday and carrying through Friday with a series of keynote speakers, group panels, working sessions, and networking events.  As a rookie attendant, I found the event exhilarating and was particularly enthralled by two sessions that incorporated public-private partnerships.

Success in the global marketplace requires innovation and savvy deployment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies that deliver business value.  Diversity initiatives are increasingly used to reach consumer groups around the world and ultimately improve business results.  Traditionally, these initiatives are implemented by human resource teams as a core CSR strategy for a company, and rarely tracked to the bottom line.   Over the past few years, innovative companies that aim to reach ethnically diverse consumers are leveraging diversity approaches to better connect  employees groups with product development and marketing efforts.   

It’s conference season and corporate responsibility professionals from across the country are convening under the auspices of a number of CSR-related topics and themes.  As leaders in CSR strategy and social innovation, Mission Measurement staff leads workshops, serves on panels and participates in conversations about the next generation of corporate social responsibility and impact measurement in the context of CSR.  Over the past month, our team has take part the following events:

More than a dozen leaders of the corporate social responsibility community in Chicago gathered on Friday, September 18th to share their experiences and ideas over lunch.  Hosted by Mission Measurement as part of the Leaders in Social Innovation (LSI) luncheon series, the discussion drew representatives from banking, healthcare, professional services, insurance, social media and philanthropy. 

In continued affirmation of this year's CSR trends, Todd Cohen of the Philanthropy Journal wrote on Wednesday, "In an economy and marketplace undergoing sweeping changes because of the recession, experts say, companies increasingly aim to make their giving more strategic, collaborative and productive."

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term that has evolved in recent years.  Those who follow the pattern in which corporations engage in social issues have noted how the role of CSR has grown from that of mindful compliance to one of strategic importance.  I was reminded of this recently while chuckling at an episode of the NBC sitcom “30Rock.”  In it, one of the show’s characters sports a t-shirt with the corporate slogan, “Sheinhardt Wig Company: Not Polluting Rivers Since 1997.”    

“Is the economic downturn affecting the willingness and readiness of companies to look at the economic, social, and environmental impact of their business practices? Or is this a perfect time to reassess current programs and adapt them to changing—and in many cases increasing—needs in society?”