The most impactful and sustainable corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs are informed by a company’s mission and values — and are designed to deliver meaningful and measurable outcomes.
A compelling CSR program can improve brand and reputation, plus it will resonate with your customers.
According to the Reputation Institute’s March 2016 Reputation Leaders Study, the most successful companies and organizations fully integrate CSR into their strategy and brand — the program is then infused into everything they do.
Findings from the study show that these companies are able to establish a powerful link that ensures that their corporate purpose helps improve their overall reputation.
Following are three steps successful companies take to build and then share effective CSR programs:
1. Ensure that CSR is derived from and integrated into your corporate purpose and strategy
CSR is a key driver of reputation. Merely checking the “CSR box” is not enough. The communication of overall CSR goals and achievements helps build trust within a company and across all of its business units and brands. As most business leaders know, trust is an invaluable asset in today’s highly-competitive global marketplace.
2. Make sure your CSR program is meaningful and authentic
REI, the national outdoor retail co-op, made headlines in 2015 for closing its stores nationwide on Black Friday. REI employees and customers showcased their activities throughout the day via the handle #OptOutside to show how they spent the day outdoors. In addition, REI donated $5.9 million to non-profits and invested $60 million in the “outdoor community.”
It was a bold move – rejecting Black Friday commercialism to compel people to take time to get out and enjoy nature. The campaign worked because it was honest and delivered against the company’s mission and brand. This is what businesses can realize when they take time to develop a meaningful and creative approach to CSR. In this instance, a major retailer chose nature over commercialism – which is totally authentic to this outdoor-focused brand.
3. To ensure the right story gets heard, companies must organize a consistent message and a shared storyline, and then broadcast it across multiple media platforms
The REI effort generated a significant amount of both earned and social media attention. It is no longer enough to publicize CSR initiatives in corporate board reports alone. Good CSR storytelling is dynamic and interactive. It uses the power of storytelling, combined with the ubiquity of social media channels to leave an emotional impression that remains when the memory of underlying plot points disappears.
A company’s reputation is about legitimacy and is largely owned by external stakeholders. Reputations are based on the experiences, judgments and perceptions of others. Consumers want to hear your story — they want to be proud of doing business with you — they want to “share” and “like” your story. When done right, CSR storytelling can achieve more than just good publicity, it can lead to lasting customer loyalty.
This article was taken from here.