CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and describes the business strategy of giving back to the community. When initiating CSR programs, the companies dedicate parts of their profits in order to create a positive impact on the local community. The corporate initiatives can be either financial support, or volunteer-driven activities, or even the raise of public awareness. The fields of action for CSR can basically be anything! As typical examples, we can mention helping minority groups, financing the education of children with fewer opportunities, cleaning forests from garbage, donating equipment to hospitals etc. Adopting CSR strategies works positively, not only for the targeted community, but also for the responsible company.
The positive impact of the CSR initiatives on their beneficiaries is always tangible and measurable. The whole point of those actions is to spread the word and touch a big audience. For instance, a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy of a famous coffee seller is to switch to environmentally sustainable tableware. Respectively, an IT firm may decide to fight the gender gap by employing more women; an electric car industry might donate electric wheelchairs to people with disabilities, or a telecommunications agency could organize a voluntary beach cleaning. Actions such as those always attract attention and normally work as multipliers for a series of positive effects. It’s not rare that other businesses or individuals will take up from the point that the CSR initiative started, and take it to the next level.
In any case, the adoption of a Corporate Social Responsibility is considered to be one of the best ways to promote a company, as it helps it stand out in its market. Choosing to be socially responsible shows that among all the competitors of the market, there is a business that provides for those in need and which stands for the values of solidarity and mutual support, and that also braces the notion of sustainable development. In reality, Corporate Social Responsibility can work as a means of advertisement: a tool used to “give back” something positive to the customers and the society in general, and a way of inviting more people to support this work by buying from this particular socially responsible company.
An effective CSR program, well promoted by an appropriate marketing strategy, can boost the sales and multiply the earnings. This is why businesses strategically opt for such initiatives in the most suitable way possible for them. In short, both the society and the enterprises benefit from CSR. It’s simply a win-win situation.
