The State of Corporate Social Responsibility

Back in September, the Reputation Institute released it’s top ten list of the best performing Corporate Social Responsibility departments of major corporations (You can find the list here). The list contains companies like Google and BMW and Disney, and while the Reputation Institute vouches for these programs, finding information on the impact that these companies had in any of their cause areas is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. Especially when their CSR actions include grantmaking.

A quick Google search of any company on this list turns up their CSRwire page, the standard newswire service for reporting social impact, however looking at the page tells you essentially nothing about what these CSR initiatives are doing. It just gives you a high level overview of what they’re trying to do, but not much about what they’re doing.

There’s a big difference between telling us what they’re trying to do and what they’re doing. I can try to be an NBA basketball player, but my lack of hand-eye coordination and relatively short 5’11’ stature might preclude that. The same is true of companies and their CSR initiatives.

Companies like Disney can try to help children suffering from cancer by donating to organizations like the Children’s’ Hospital Los Angeles (an actual recipient of a grant), but what impact is that grant actually having on the hospital? What social benefit is being created by that donation? There’s nowhere to find that, and I have a lingering feeling that Disney doesn’t know either.

Often times in these types of companies, the CSR department is seen as a necessary expense, a group of people to simply tolerate, all with the intention of trying to make the company look good. The reason for all of this positioning is obvious: Millennials want companies to do good and make a profit. They will even go out of their way to achieve these goals. Arguably, it’s as necessary now for companies to engage in CSR as it was in 2000 for companies to have a webpage. The tide has shifted, and any large company without a CSR department is beginning to feel like an outsider. In short, these departments are beginning to have increasing amounts of sway within their companies.

How great would it be, though, if these departments could move from being cost centers to revenue generators? If Disney’s CSR department was able to clearly and concisely articulate the impact that their donation had, their marketing team could create a campaign showing off the good work they’re doing, and they could track the revenue generated from this campaign similar to any other campaign. CSR would finally show the financial returns that will enable it to be a larger part of businesses in the future.

At MARK Labs, we are working on solving that problem by building a platform to connect corporate donors with their grant recipients to provide a data link between those who create impact and those who fund impact. We believe that with the right data, companies can actively convey to all stakeholders the impact that their CSR dollars have, and push for more funds to be allocated to this, with its newfound status as a revenue generator for the firm.

-Matt Gallea is MARK Labs’ Strategic Innovation Lead working on product and customer development.