6 Ways Brands Can Ensure Their CSR is Effective

Post by 
Ria Ghose
Published 
January 4, 2023
I

magine a candidate for a critical role declines your job offer because your company’s brand image doesn’t align with their values. A study found 96% of prospective employees would do precisely that.1 Customers and other shareholders increasingly agree with this sentiment. 

Being purpose-driven and meeting shareholder expectations are integral to success and competitive advantage. No matter where you operate or how big your company is, you must remain actively involved in your local community and be a good corporate citizen. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 found that 60% of employees want company leaders to take a stance on social issues, climate change, and economic inequality.2 

Kate Bravery, Global Leader of Advisory Solutions & Insights at Mercer, said, “A fundamental change in people’s values is underpinning a structural shift in the labor market. There is now increased pressure for organizations to contribute to society in a way that reflects the values of their customers, employees and investors.”1 

But to integrate CSR into the new “business as usual,” you’ll have to incorporate strategies that will make it impactful and sustainable. Here are 6 ways to drive more value from your corporate social responsibility efforts:  

Choose a Cause That Aligns With Your Company Goals 

Your CSR goals should marry your corporate values with how you serve your local community and employees. Done effectively, CSR will improve your brand image and customer loyalty, attract better talent, and ultimately generate more revenue and growth. An effective CSR game plan should be responsive to industry needs and stakeholders along the value chain and include strategic partners.  

IKEA, for example, only buys sustainable materials from responsible vendors and aims to use recycled or renewable plastic exclusively by 2030. The IKEA Foundation partners with nonprofits and other partners to support programs around climate change, renewable energy, agricultural livelihoods, employment, entrepreneurship, and emergency responses.

Work With The Right Audience

CSR efforts need buy-in from your employees. So, do an internal poll to see which causes your employees are passionate about and involve them in building a strategy and action plan. 

Dell Volunteers CSR
Source: Dell

In 2019, Dell employees dedicated 5 million volunteer hours across different local communities where the company has offices. They embraced myriad causes, from delivering faster treatment to critically-ill children to organizing skills-based education in marginalized communities. 

Use Proof of Attendance to Improve Accountability  

You have to use a data-driven approach to track the impact of your CSR initiatives, figure out which strategies work best, and stay accountable for your actions. Proof of attendance is one way to ensure that the community is motivated to show up for the causes they are interested in. 

Proof of Attendance (POAP) is a Web3 protocol that helps curate life experiences, such as events someone attended. Using the POAP, you can track employee participation, reward them for their actions, and keep them engaged and motivated to continue.

In November 2021, Adidas launched a POAP NFT via their app, Confirmed, to recognize their most loyal fans and stated these NFTs would go up in value as they reward the holders.   

Adidas POAP NFT
Adidas POAP NFT for Loyal Fans, Source: Adidas

Leverage Proof of Funding to Increase CSR Transparency 

Building trust is a critical marker for any successful CSR initiative, and there’s no better way to do that than transparency across goals, actions, and results. If you have a grants program, you’ll have to maintain records for how the money is divided, who benefits and how those decisions are made. 

Proof of funding uses blockchain technology to keep immutable records of your actions and decisions, and is becoming a common way to build trust in a company ecosystem. 

Campbell Soup Company racks all their CSR activities through numbers. They know how much money they’ve donated to different communities just as easily as how many of their products meet their own nutrition-focused foods label. 

Provide Incentive for CSR Work

Incentivizing corporate social responsibility is the best way to ensure all participants — your employees or community members — continue the work they started and help meet your CSR goals. Incentives and rewards around CSR can even lead to greater overall employee engagement. 

French hospitality company Sodexo created employee awards around their CSR activities. But more importantly, the company has a yearly paid volunteering allowance where employees can volunteer for a cause they are passionate about and get paid for their work. 

Build Effective Partnerships to Take Your CSR Activities Up a Notch

Regardless of the size of your business, CSR activities involve numerous stakeholders, strategies and plans — without the right partnerships, these activities can fall through and fail to create any meaningful impact.  

Kate Bravery of Mercer says, “Organizations now have a moment of profound opportunity to…carve a new way of partnering that is more relatable, and ultimately more sustainable,”1

Whether you’re looking to build activities around a specific cause, work with nonprofits and influencers within those spaces, donate to the right groups, or build a community of highly engaged volunteers, Rabble is the gateway to impactful corporate social responsibility. 

We are a decentralized impact-to-earn platform helping Gen Z and Millennials passionate about a cause to take community action in their localities. Rabble connects brands, investors and donors to activists, grassroots organizations, and nonprofits fighting climate change and social injustice. 

We have the rather lofty goal of making the world a better place, starting with your own neighborhood. But we’re realists who know that supportive brands with financial muscle are part of the solution. If you want to join a bunch of rebels who are creating a better world, get in touch with us.  

Source: 

  1. https://www.mercer.com/newsroom/global-talent-trends-2022.html 
  2. https://331306437dde47288d1bf28a2f521adb.svc.dynamics.com/t/r/GXZCoQoVoIJJDUQnF1SuQm82HwhUDNfuMXgVYGEzhck
  3. https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/best-corporate-responsibility-companies 

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