Indeed, individual businesses and entire industries have awak-ened
to the reality that CSR provides more than just the obvious
benefits: it has the potential to help recruit, retain and engage top-quality
talent in a competitive landscape.
“We’re in a time when people are hungry for more mean-ing
– and they’re looking for brands to deliver substantive,
measureable, meaningful social change. Companies are
responding with more robust CSR programs,” said Paul
Klein, president of Impakt, a Toronto-based business that
helps corporations and non-profit organizations profit from
innovative social change.
Modern solutions like Impakt and Benevity empower employ-ers
and employees to work together to build a visceral connection
between their companies and the causes their workforce cares
about. Rewards in the form of corporate matching gifts, donation
currency incentives for volunteering and charitable gift cards moti-vate
participation while digital platforms help market, measure
and distribute funds efficiently. Corporate goodness is integrated
into operations and becomes part of the identity and culture of
an organization.
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ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL CSR PROGRAM
de Lottinville and Klein advise a more holistic and tailored
method to the one-size-fits-all approach to CSR. A successful
program will:
■■ Be specific and match the ethos of the company: It’s important
that the social cause(s) adopted by a company align with the
values of the business and its employees. Klein points to The
Home Depot Canada Foundation, which has taken up ending
youth homelessness.
■■ Engage and provide choices to employees: Whether it’s
payroll-enabled micro-donations, employer donation matching,
time off to volunteer for a cause of choice or employee-led friend-raising
initiatives, the more companies involve their workforce
in CSR, the more successful it will be. “Enabling employees to
distribute grants and give their time and money to charities
they’re passionate about and then seeing the impact creates an
emotive connection between that person and their employer –
that’s a recipe for greater engagement,” said de Lottinville.
■■ Leverage in-house skills – and offer opportunities for team
building and professional development: A new element of
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