| About Corporate Citizenship |
What is Corporate Citizenship? What is Corporate Citizenship? “The business strategy that shapes the values underpinning a company’s mission and the choices made each day by its executives, managers and employees as they engage with society” – Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College “Operating a business in a manner that consistently meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of a business” – Business for Social Responsibility Sometimes known as corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate philanthropy, corporate citizenship is—at its most basic—about organizations becoming good citizens of their communities. They do this by proactively addressing current and potential impacts on society of their products, services and operations, as well as by giving back to the communities in which they operate through corporate giving, volunteerism and pro bono programs. However, corporate citizenship is about more than just giving back to your community. It is about doing so in a way that is strategic and targeted, helping you to give—and gain—the most from your community involvement. Corporate citizenship is a way to strategically align all aspects of your community involvement with your corporate values. Knowing what you are supporting and why helps you utilize your resources efficiently and effectively to the maximum benefit. While the primary goal of corporate citizenship is to give back to the community because it is simply the right thing to do, a complementary goal for organizations is to leverage this activity for competitive advantage. How Can a Corporate Citizenship Program Help Your Organization? Good citizenship is good business—not just an end in itself. Planned and managed strategically, corporate citizenship initiatives result in positive outcomes for society and long-term success for organizations. A solid corporate citizenship program can help your organization by:
Why Develop a Strategic Corporate Citizenship Program? In the past, corporations made contributions that involved their employees and executives because it was simply the right thing to do. While it’s still the right thing to do, in today’s world community contribution strategies need to be more aligned with the organizations’ own values, strategies, and goals. Organizations need to focus and develop their community involvement along business lines—not directly, not self-servingly, but in a general way. For example, it makes more sense for a utilities company to focus on energy and environmental issues rather than on nutrition, or for a law firm to focus on community justice issues rather than the arts. In addition, organizations need to leverage their dollars with government dollars, with nonprofit dollars, and with other corporate dollars to achieve maximum effectiveness. No sector can solve the problems of community on their own. However, by working together strategically and by utilizing each sector’s assets to the best advantage, your community will benefit in the long-term. |
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