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CSR is the short form of “corporate social responsibility”. CSR is a term widely used by people to describe socially beneficial activities carried out by companies. Corporate social responsibility can also take the form of activism, philanthropy, charitable giving, or volunteering. The return on investment (ROI) of CSR is often intangible, as is the case when developing a CSR initiative to improve a company’s online reputation. (Learn more about CSR for Corporate Reputation Management)
Many companies integrate CSR into their brand development strategy. For example, Reputation X customers have asked whether a donation to causes such as BLM or NAACP would improve the perception of their brand. While donations to any positive popular causes are almost always helpful, this type of ad hoc corporate social responsibility is seen as superficial and self-serving by some, and as a necessary evil by others to avoid public humiliation by activists.
Aggressive demands for a return on investment can make CSR look like public relations.
Many companies across the globe insist (internally) that CSR for Corporate Reputation initiatives show a return on investment. The problem with requiring a return on investment for CSR initiatives is that it can, to some extent, feel astroturfing. Astroturfing is a false bottom line movement.
Companies, especially large corporations, are under pressure to support charitable initiatives and to appear to do so with humility and even underestimation. Aggressive demands for return on investment can make CSR for corporate reputation look like public relations.
But the return on investment of CSR needs not to be so blatant. For example, if the charity itself generates positive content about the donor company, the originating company often gets a free pass. We will come back to this later.
CSR for Corporate Reputation Management
At the risk of sounding cynical, even a relatively short blast of apparent social responsibility often helps to improve a company’s sense of online reputation. Indeed, fashionable topics are often rewarded with looks and clicks. Eyes and clicks (and inbound links) are noticed by Google’s algorithm. This can dramatically change a company’s search results, improving its reputation, at least while the subject is trendy.
CSR for corporate reputation can be a shield against negative “mincing”. For example, one of our clients asked us if we should “check the box” to protect ourselves from online activists who damage their online reputation. Our client had received a template email from people posing as activists. Our client viewed this email as a thinly veiled threat that, if he did not comply with a donation to his cause, would result in online retaliation.
We suggested a specific strategy to maximize their social giving. Although there was a lot of eye-rolling, the company ended up making strategic donations, posting content about their support on their various web properties, and earning praise for their actions. Ironically, the senders of the first “threatening” email never acknowledged their actions. Perhaps the lack of negative attention from social media was a thank you enough.
In reality, it was a one-time donation purely for protection, but it helped the company while funding charities. While it was not a selfless act, in the end, it helped a lot of people.
CSR and latest trends
The objectives of CSR dor Corporate Reputation Management often change with public attention. In addition, as powerful as Black Lives Matter is, the movement is always at the mercy of the news cycle. Also, most social causes have their day in the sun, then fade and gain stability at a lower level of visibility.
The graph below shows BLM Google’s search trends over time.
Here is Google’s trend chart for the Me Too movement.
CSR often evolves with the economy
According to Nielsen, social responsibility, once a major concern for companies, has faded in the harsh light of the pandemic. In addition, charitable giving in the United States began to decline before Covid. During the Great Recession (2007-2009), charitable donations fell by 7%. A similar or greater decline may occur as a result of the economic downturn in 2020, not only for individual donations but also for corporate social spending.
Corporate social responsibility policies
The policies of CSR for corporate responsibility can take many forms. Below are some examples of corporate social responsibility activities that many companies have undertaken.
- Reducing the carbon footprint
- Fairtrade practices
- Donations to charitable causes
- Development of scholarship funds
- Employees volunteering in the community
- Environmental and Green Practices
- Social capitalism
- Improvement of work practices
- Participation in service clubs (Rotary, Elks, etc.)
Leveraging CSR to rebalance the narrative
Reputation X is often confronted with unbalanced narratives. Imbalance occurs when search results, social media, or Wikipedia articles present an online story that leans toward the negative. One way to rebalance online sentiment is to generate new positive content online. Corporate social responsibility can not only help different communities but also generate content to support the rebalancing effort of the company doing it (it also works for individuals).
The use of CSR for corporate reputation enhancement involves the following:
1.Identifying one or more charities or causes to help. Trendy topics are usually the best choice.
2. A company can ask the organization it helps three questions:
- Ask the recipient organization to advertise the donation or other support in all its social media.
- Ask the recipient organization to write an article about the support to be placed on its website. It is important that the title include the name of the company (the company making the donation).
- Finally, ask that the recipient organization issue a press release about the donation or support. Note: All expenses must be reimbursed promptly by the company.3. Once the “three requests” have been made and the charity has responded, the company must support the organization in the same way. Making a donation is not just about giving, it is also about helping them online and helping your brand :
- Mention the charity on all social channels using the appropriate “a” labels for the cause and for the charity.
- Distribute a press release about the event. Include images if possible.
- If possible, place the organization’s logo on the company website. This can also be done for a limited time.
- Ensure that the company’s Crunchbase, Medium, LinkedIn, and similar profiles all mention the charity by referring to the corporate content developed by the charity (point 2.2 above).
Let’s Wrap Up:
These actions seem to be interested because… well, sometimes they are. But keep in mind that the company is not the only entity to benefit from CSR. The charity gets something, employees feel a sense of pride, the community around the organization will appreciate it too. The supporting company will have additional positive online content about its social responsibility. If you need any further help, you can contact an online reputation management company helping corporates to manage their online reputation.
