In recent years, the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, has been at the front of business conversation. It is apparent the future of business is turning towards opportunities that not only drive ingenuity, but also build and sustain an earned reputation for the brand that resonates with their internal teams, external communities and investors, and the globe, for doing good work for society. More than 81% of millenials expect companies to make a public commitment to good corporate citizenship, and are making spending decisions based on how corporations develop these types of initiatives.

In short, corporations that aren’t participating in CSR based initiatives are being left behind. Fortune 1000's social impact visions are developing from the top-down, accordingly.  It's a new age, and the majority of C-Suite within the largest brands in the world, are prioritizing and championing a set of "impact initiatives.” In some cases these initiatives are every bit as strategically significant as the profit-generating measures permeating all areas of their organization.

In this post, we’ll break down the history of CSR and how the phrase has evolved over time, explore its current usage, and understand how creating and actualizing CSR goals at your organization can be transformative for your business across all sectors, without derailing your ongoing corporate strategy. 

Where did CSR originate? 

Howard Bowen, Grinnell College president and American economist, is often called the “father of CSR.” His book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (1953) is considered the first appearance and foundational reference for the foundation for the study of CSR. 

The term continued its rise to prominence through the 1970s, when the Committee for Economic Development first detailed the concept of the “social contract” between business and society. 

There are a few major categories of CSR, including:

• Environmental Responsibility, related to pollution and preservation of the planet.
• Ethical Responsibility, such as creating hiring and workplace initiatives designed to support people of all races, backgrounds, and identities.
• Financial Responsibility, referring to how and where an organization spends their money.

With these CSR categories in mind, numerous economists and professors created potential definitions for CSR and how the business sector could more holistically intersect with creating social good through driving business results. Many of these results included some similar fundamental principles, such as:

• Providing jobs and economic growth through well run businesses
• Utilizing a corporation’s ability to help a specific need
• Transparency
• Ethical behavior
• Respect for stakeholder interests
• Respect for the rule of law

Once an organization has defined their CSR interest within the categories above, they could follow the framework of:

1. Adopting the key principles or ethics related to the specific need they wanted to support
2. Developing a framework for supporting a response to address where the business could react and respond 
3. Creating policies and plans within and without the organization to support resolution for the issue. 

CSR has completely transformed since its original inception, and there is still plenty of room for growth in understanding how organizations approach their CSR goals and achieve them. As the term evolves, so do the innovations around CSR strategy and the external programs developed to support those initiatives. 

Who is adopting CSR initiatives?

Johnson & Johnson was one of the first organizations to begin adopting principles that today would fall under the CSR umbrella. Founder, Robert Wood Johnson, established their credo in 1943, which requires that the needs of those they serve are put first. 

Since then, hundreds of companies across all sectors have begun adopting powerful CSR initiatives. Even beyond the business sector, countries around the world are adopting policies and legislation that requires people who commission public services to think about how they can also secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits, such as the UK Social Value Act (2013).

CSR has become an essential strategy for many organizations, with multi-million dollar companies, such as Wells Fargo, Walt Disney, PwC and Pfizer incorporating this concept into their business processes. Starbucks has pledged to hire 25,000 US military veterans and spouses by 2025 as part of its socially responsible efforts. Coca-Cola aims to reduce their carbon footprint by 25% by 2030 by making their packaging 100% recyclable and replacing all water used in creating their drinks back to the environment to ensure water security. Google launched the Grow With Google for Women in STEM initiative, a three-month program that seeks to train more than 100 women engineers and engineering students in cloud technology.

These companies are just some of the organizations stepping up to implement CSR as part of their long term business model, with more companies continuing to adopt similar leading initiatives. 

Why do CSR initiatives matter?

There are huge benefits for organizations that adopt CSR focused principles and initiatives across the company, including:

• Brand Recognition: Customers are becoming more increasingly aware of the impact brands have on their community, and they’re paying attention to the organizations creating a positive impact. If brands want to exist in the future, they must recognize a recent shift within the world of business and commerce, with people and the planet being as important, if not more so, than profit. 
• Improving Investor Relations: Having focused CSR strategies positively impacts how investors feel about an organization and how they view the worth of the company.
• Employee Engagement: Employees value CSR-related initiatives and they serve as non-financial job benefits that strengthen employee retention

These are just some of the positives to developing and tailoring CSR initiatives, and as the field continues to expand, there will likely be many more. 

A corporation's ability to earn the trust of customers, shareholders and talent is more fragile than ever. In a new world of social media and authenticity, brands are being held to a higher standard of accountability, and organizations that don’t keep up with public accountability are at risk of brand identity breakdown and share prices plummeting if not meeting recognizing a people over profit mentality. On the plus side, there's never been more tools to alter this brand trust with speed and scale.  CSR represents one of the shiniest and most promising tools to elevating brand trust and backing that trust up with quantifiable evidence. 

How do you develop CSR initiatives?

The first step to developing a comprehensive CSR strategy is to evaluate the overall goals of the company and the specific cause area that the CSR initiatives are going to support. A CSR strategy is not built by one person, or department alone. Some companies have a CSR department, some assign CSR to Human Resources teams or Office Managers, even more see the participation of C-Suite in developing these critical initiatives.

Next, plan and define your CSR related project. Make sure you define specific targets and timelines in order to make the goals achievable and impactful. There are many possible routes to take to obtain a plan to reach these goals. Your organization could make internal commitments, or, like many organizations, foster an external partnership to bring your CSR initiatives to life. This could mean working directly with a NPO of your company’s choice, or partnering with companies that platform accessible projects to help you reach your CSR goals, like Paragon One. 

Paragon One facilitates CSR Learning focused externship programs serving underprivileged communities to help CSR Learning Leaders who are seeking to bolster their CSR objectives, and allow for a high-value low-effort solution for expanding their talent pool, while prioritizing CSR and enriching team impact by creating real-work experiences for the underrepresented Fortune 1000 leaders of tomorrow.   

In many traditional CSR initiatives, program heads are spread thin on work objectives outside of the program, which can cause deadlines to get missed and goals to go unachieved.  An established work experience provided by Paragon One specializes in creating positive and meaningful experiences, even unlocking an efficient pipeline to DEI aligned employment value.

An outsourced program can improve the community’s experience as well.  It streamlines the time-cost for community members via a shorter application process, higher acceptance rates and an overall worthwhile experience within a shorter time-frame.  This leaves time for learners to take classes, work a wage-earning job, or gain extracurricular experiences beyond the program. 

Once your goals and partnerships are established, define your terms and overall strategy to roll out the initiative to your employees and the public. Your CSR strategy should include your plan for regularly and publicly discussing your CSR initiatives—via your website, social media, newsletters, email updates, reports, and even press releases.

Finally, continue to learn, respond, and improve how you target your initiative. This takes time, data aggregation, and feedback from the issue your organization is working to address. Monitor the data points you consider to be a sign of success, and continue to evolve as needed.

CSR is Transforming Business

Understanding CSR and strategizing your goals takes deliberate thought to navigate, but if you organize, plan, and partner with the right organizations, you can make it possible for your brand to see increased success, while creating quantifiable social impact. 

Interested in Accelerating Your CSR Goals?

We know that Fortune 1000 leaders are working to create defining CSR goals. Talk to us to learn how creating real-work experiences for the underrepresented Fortune 1000 leaders of tomorrow can accelerate how your CSR goals are achieved. 

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