Corporate Social Responsibility: The Definitive Guide
Corporate Social Responsibility: The Definitive Guide
What is CSR?
CSR Definition
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe a company’s efforts to improve society in some way. These efforts can range from donating money to nonprofits to implementing environmentally friendly policies in the workplace.
Who does CSR impact?
CSR impacts companies, nonprofits, and employees alike. Corporate social responsibility is not a mandated practice in the United States; instead, it is something extra that companies do to improve their local and global communities.
How can CSR programs help nonprofits?
Individuals make up roughly three-fourths of an organization’s total monetary contributions. CSR initiatives can help nonprofits make up that leftover 25% after they’ve looked to individual donors.
How much money has been donated as a result of corporate giving?
Corporate giving in 2017 increased to $20.77 billion, up 8% from 2016. Corporate giving was also bolstered by $405 million contributed as part of disaster relief.
CSR Navigation
CSR Statistics: What You Need to Know
18 Million
Individuals work for companies with matching gift programs.
40%
Of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.
$2 Billion
The amount that the top 10 corporations donate annually in cash to nonprofits, much of it through employee matching gift programs.
$2-3 Billion
Is donated through matching gift programs each year.
Source: Double the Donation Research
What Is the Purpose of Corporate Social Responsibility?
The purpose of corporate social responsibility is to give back to the community, take part in philanthropic causes, and provide positive social value. Businesses are increasingly turning to CSR to make a difference and build a positive brand around their company.
Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility
For Employees
Employees like working for a company that has a good public image and is constantly in the media for positive reasons. Nearly 60% of employees who are proud of their company’s social responsibility are engaged in their jobs.
For Society
CSR is a thoughtful and practical way to give back to society. When businesses are conscious of their social and environmental impact on the world, they can benefit society by giving back and helping to find solutions to everyday issues.
For Businesses
By taking part in CSR, businesses are providing positive social value. Consumers are reporting more and more that they are likely to work with companies or purchase goods from companies that are socially responsible. Plus, you can raise brand awareness by being featured on donor recognition walls or acknowledged in marketing materials.
For Nonprofits
Companies with strong corporate social responsibility programs are looking for nonprofits to be the recipient of grants, matching gift programs, and volunteer grant programs. CSR initiatives help nonprofits find support beyond individual donors.
Types of Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy is the act of a corporation promoting the welfare of others, usually through charitable donations of funds. Companies can leverage this type of CSR in various ways, though one of the most popular ways is by matching gifts their employees make to companies.
Corporations that offer matching gift programs essentially double the donations that their employees are giving to eligible nonprofits.
Corporate Volunteerism
Corporations can leverage corporate volunteerism by encouraging their employees to volunteer. Many companies allocate hours to go toward volunteering during the workday, and many more encourage involvement by offering volunteer grants to the nonprofits where their employees volunteer.
This kind of socially responsible program is a win-win for every party involved. Employees of corporations are seen volunteering and donating their time to important causes in the community, and nonprofits are receiving free time and volunteer work, which is essential for the success of so many nonprofits.
Environmental Leadership
Corporations can demonstrate environmental leadership in several ways. For example, they can:
- Put forth efforts to reduce their carbon emissions
- Recycle their products
- Give back to environmental causes
By showing that they care about improving and preserving the environment, companies can gain more support and business, and also build a solid reputation as an environmental leader.
Ethical Labor Practices
Part of being socially responsible for a corporation means participating in ethical labor practices. These practices can include:
- Offering more competitive salaries to employees
- Offering more competitive compensation packages
- Providing generous parental leave
- Offering tuition reimbursement
Following ethical labor practices reflects well on companies and causes more individuals to want to work with them.
Economic Responsibility
In being economically responsible, companies “pay their dues” to society, such as by:
- Keeping up with their taxes
- Investing back into their communities
- Paying their employees competitive wages
Companies that take part in economic responsibility are truly paying it forward for the greater social good. This not only impacts their values as a company but also their employees and the well-being of the economy overall.
Corporate Social Responsibility Companies
- COMPANY
- Walmart
- Wells Fargo
- Microsoft
- Apple
- Boeing
- ExxonMobil
- Chevron
- Starbucks
- Verizon
- ANNUAL GIVING INFO
- $250 for 25 volunteer hours
- $2,000 maximum match per employee
- $15,000 maximum match per employee
- $25 per volunteer hour
- $12,000 maximum match per employee
- $10,000 maximum match per employee
- $500 grant after 20 hours of volunteering
- $10,000 maximum match per employee
- Up to $1,000 for volunteering
- $750 volunteer grants for up to two nonprofits
Top CSR Programs for Companies
Matching Gift Programs
Matching gifts are a type of corporate philanthropy in which companies match donations that their employees make to nonprofit organizations.
When an employee makes a donation, they’ll request the matching gift from their employer, who then makes their own donation. Companies usually match donations at a 1:1 ratio, but some will match at a 2:1, 3:1, or even a 4:1 ratio.
Matching gifts are growing in popularity:
- 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs.
- 84% of donors say they’re more likely to make a donation if a match is offered.
- 1 in 3 donors indicates that they would give a larger gift if matching was applied to their donation.
- 12% of total corporate cash contributions have gone through corporate matching gift programs.
Volunteer Grants
Volunteer grants are a form of corporate giving that encourages employees of companies to volunteer in their local community. Companies will then provide monetary grants to the organizations where these employees regularly volunteer.
Volunteer grants are a great way to turn volunteer time into tangible funds and are also rising in popularity:
- 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs.
- 80% of companies with volunteer grant programs offer between $8-$15 per hour volunteered.
- 65% of companies that were surveyed provided paid-release time volunteer programs in 2017.
Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility
Walmart
Walmart donated more than 1.4 billion globally in FY2019, and more than 47,000 associates in the U.S. volunteered more than 776,000 hours. Walmart also donated 640 million pounds of food in just the U.S. alone.
Google recently set a 5-year goal to give $1 billion in grants and offer 1 million volunteer hours. They are also helping close the world’s education gap by supporting nonprofits that build platforms to scale digital learning resources to everyone.
Microsoft
Microsoft strengthens communities all over. They recently donated $1.4 billion in software and services to NGOs, and their employees donated $158 million (including Microsoft matching gifts) to nonprofits.
Corporate Social Responsibility Database:
Learn More About Double the Donation
Nonprofits can increase their revenue by promoting matching gifts and volunteer grant programs to their supporters. Through these CSR programs and others, donors can at least double their contribution and volunteers can make an even greater impact with their time.
Double the Donation can help both nonprofits and employees take advantage of these CSR opportunities.
Double the Donation offers the #1 matching gifts database and volunteer grant database, with more than 8,500 organizations using it. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource, both nonprofits and corporate employees can gain access to thousands of profiles that can help them get their gifts matched, as well as secure volunteer grants.
How the Database Works:
STEP 1:
Access the database.
STEP 2:
Search for your employer.
STEP 3:
View the results.
Additional CSR Resources
Matching Gift Companies
There are lots of companies that will match their employees’ donations.
However, companies like GE, CarMax, and Johnson & Johnson stand out in the crowd. Find out why!
Volunteer Grant Companies
Many companies will offer excellent volunteer grant programs to their employees.
Learn more about the top companies who offer this and how they take part in corporate social responsibility!
Corporate Giving Programs
Corporate giving programs allow all sorts of companies to invest in social good.
Learn more about how corporate giving programs can impact nonprofits and how employees can take part.