Until recently, consumers would turn to your business as long as you provided them top-notch products and services. End of the story. But that is not the case anymore. The modern-day customers are not so narrow in their vision. Though they consider a variety of factors before sticking to a brand, none of them takes precedence over Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Numbers suggest that nearly 78 percent of the total population wants companies to throw their weight behind a social cause. The indication is loud and clear. That being, if you’re going to survive in the market for a long time, overlooking or undermining CSR will be one of the biggest blunders you can commit today.
Since CSR is not a brand-new phenomenon, there are already well-established ways to implement it in business. Let’s unveil them without further ado:
Table of Contents
1.TRACK PROGRESS
Several entrepreneurs fail to realize that designing a perfect CSR strategy is a long process. You don’t get all the desired results in the first go. Every CSR framework goes through chop and changes several times before falling into an ideal setting. Another upside of measuring progress is that you come to terms with small achievements, which could uplift your morale big time. Apart from sharing growth with employees, make sure you also communicate it to customers so that they become a party to your successful journey. Prepare easy-to-understand charts or graphs and put them on your social media profile. You may also post photographs and behind the scene videos.
2.INVOLVE YOUR CUSTOMERS
At times, casual customers may offer better insight into formulating a business strategy than those who are enrolled in MBA programs online. Valuable suggestions can come from anyone. So it is recommended to connect with the customer base and extract feedback.
In all likelihood, some customers may resonate with your cause and participate in it according to their capacity. For example, if your company wants to help out less-privileged schools, people could be willing to donate their electronic gadgets. So much so, they might even chip in with hard cash. Social media is hands down the best tool to get in touch with customers.
3.SET GOALS
There is an exhaustive list of social issues that mutually concern the entire world. As a business entity, you can’t address all of them. Hence, it is imperative to outline specific objectives right from the get-go. Being clear about what you want to achieve is like having a roadmap in your hand. You will never get off-track.
At the same time, you should also be mindful of the fact that random goal-selection is not going to work. The objectives must have a close correlation with your respective industry. For example, if you own a car manufacturing company, you might be better off working to improve vehicular security rather than advocating climate change. In case a business aspires to work towards something unrealistic, the public will be quick to dismiss it as a mere marketing gimmick.
After detecting a macro problem, try to get to the bottom of it and start from the micro-level. To give you a better demonstration, if you have pledged to save all engendered birds, it would be wise to begin the campaign by narrowing your focus to a single species. That way, you will have a high probability of becoming successful within a short period. It’s good to dream big, but, by all means, stay realistic because the majority of the bad corporate social responsibility examples are the outcome of not setting realistic goals.
4.TAKE ALL EMPLOYEES ONBOARD
In many organizations, only higher-ups discuss the CRF implementation process. Others get excluded from the debate. Well, that will conclude a disaster because the nature of this project is such that no company can do it effectively without engaging its all employees.
Smart business owners convey to their workers that they are part of a greater good, and no worldly gain could be equivalent to it. Naturally, this sparks everyone to work with different enthusiasm altogether, and the successful execution of CRF becomes just a matter of time.
5.FORM AN ALLIANCE WITH THE THIRD-PARTY
However, you devise your goals; there has to be a non-profit organization endeavoring for the same cause. You should join hands with it. This measure will serve multiple purposes, such as:
- You will beget considerable credibility.
- The reach will expand quite significantly because the third-party will end up promoting your business by default.
- Non-profits have extensive experience and will teach you several turns and tricks of the world of philanthropy. As a result, you will become more lethal at stuff like appealing to masses and raising money.
- No one knows the pulse of the community better than non-profits. Therefore, they will not only pinpoint the most daunting nuisances of the society but also guide you to confront them effortlessly.
6.STAY ON TOP OF THE PUBLICITY
More than 50 percent of millennials would go out of their way to defend a purpose-oriented company, notes a comprehensive study. But what if millennials don’t know whether you are supporting a cause or not? That is precisely why marketing is at the heart of CRS implementation. Provided the latest technology, it is relatively convenient for a brand to earn publicity these days. However, the following techniques have been proving their mettle for so long:
- Create a button on your website containing detailed information about your CSR campaign, including goals, third-party affiliations, certificates, achievements, and so on.
- Regularly update social media accounts about the latest developments.
- Sponsor your charitable work on famous Or, better still, start your podcast.
7.MAP OUT A BUDGET
Just like every other business venture, you must determine costs with CSR implementation. Depending on the respective aims, you might be obliged to donate money, pay the volunteers, buy necessary equipment, etc. The point being, you must take all the expenses into account and come up with correct estimations. If not, it will pave the way for a flawed CSR implementation.
FINAL WORDS
There is no denying the fact that the ideal implementation of CSR is an uphill task. Many reputed brands have failed at it time and again. With that said, you are less likely to face disappointment if you religiously stick to the above methods. Not all policies and techniques are easy to implement in one night; though, your efforts can fasten up the task and produce results altogether.
Comments