Sunday, March 7, 2010
giving back to the ones who need it the most
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the topic for today's post. Most companies seem to view CSR as a burden and as a thing they need to do every now and then to polish their image and get the giving back to the society they work in. Its great to know that here in MindValley CSR has become part of the company activities. It started small with a small group of employees helping out a refugee mothers once every other month to make arts and crafts then teach them how to successfully market and sell their stuff and now its moved a workshop with refugee children every single Saturday afternoon. Giving back to society should not be seen as a business obligation but a bit of humanity should be attached to it, and that is when it really makes difference and your contribution as an organization to improve the life in the community is felt and appreciated.
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3 comments:
Indeed Corporate Social Responsibility is one of the vital elements of Public Relations. Of all the Public Relations practices that are available this is by far the one that i like. I am more pleased with the fact that it is a practice that is not biased it is symmetrical hence an ethical practise.
Recent Studies have also proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is on the rise, which i feel it is such a good practice to embark upon.
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According to giving USA, charitable giving by for-profit corporations has risen from an estimation of $9.6 billion in 1999 to $12.99 billion in 2002. Core/Roper's Executive Study in 2000, exploring the cause initiatives from the Corporate Perspective found that 69percent of companies planned future commitments to social issues.
(Corporate Social Responsibility by Philip Kotler & Nancy Lee)
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Clearly CSR is on the rise and i am for the idea. I am glad your Mind Valley is seeing to it that social needs are met.
The problem with CSR is that sometimes it can look arbitrary or 'done for free publicity'. I think companies need to engage the community based on the line of business they're in. For example, a bank must look at empowering people with tools for saving money and investing wisely.
Most CSR is aimed too much at 'giving back to the community' but what exactly does it give back? Sometimes, it's better to empower communities with life skills that will improve conditions in these communities rather than solve a problem in the short-term.
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