Do’s and Don’ts for Corporate Social Responsibility

–Shreya S. Kujur

Corporate Social Responsibility includes all voluntary actions taken by organizations towards society and the environment and reflects their responsibility for their impacts. Also, it is very important to follow certainly do’s and don’ts as a CSR.

Given below is the list of the same.

 The Right Way for Creating a CSR Project

•  Do clearly articulate your program’s vision and mission, and make sure your approach is highly focused.
•  Make sure your corporate culture supports your corporate responsibility efforts, and involve employees in programs as appropriate.
• You must monitor and manage your Sustainability data all year round. You should be talking to the data owners all year round, and assessing the integrity of the data periodically throughout the year, not just at the end of the year.
• Develop a VISION. Do not see it as a charitable exercise. The sole purpose of a CSR is not to flaunt the good deeds that it does but to achieve the goals of making the society better and take full responsibility of it.
• Aim for self-reliance in implementing your social responsibility programme in the long term, as it helps in building a direct line of communication, and consequently deeper relations with your stakeholder.
• Maintain positive and consistent communication at all levels to get the best results for your stakeholders at both the ends. AT ALL TIMES.
• Seek ways where voluntary endeavor and community participation are offered for future development.

What to Avoid ?

• Never approach a corporate responsibility as a media relations strategy.
• Don’t use “too feel good” images just to convince that it is a good company. Adding pictures of smiling children facing the
  sun and holding up leaves, to somehow make the company look good is not ethical.
• Do not make the CSR report purely retrospective include information about the goals, plans the target of the company.
• Do not overpromise, overcommit or create an imbalance of resource since sustainability is process-driven and not event-based.
• Begin without confirming that the team is positive and confident about the implementation plan.
• Look at money as the only resource, and donations as the only resort.