MARKETINGPROFS: IRRESPONSIBLE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: DOING GOOD ISN’T ALWAYS DONE WELL
MarketingProfs‘ Alyssa Dver advises companies large and small how to best contribute to society while avoiding the mistakes so often made when trying to do the right thing.
MarketingProfs Excerpt:
With all the right intentions, hordes of companies—large and small, franchised and wholly owned, domestic and international—have accepted the calling to be good corporate citizens. They are diligently implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that address sustainability, philanthropy, community involvement, and other goodwill requirements.
According to a recent IBM study, 1,130 CEOs said they plan to increase their corporate citizenship spending by 25%, on average. CSR, then, is still nascent; companies are searching for the basic answers to how much is enough and what really makes a difference to society, for the brand, and to the stakeholders.
Many companies make serious but avoidable mistakes that can overshadow well-intentioned CSR investments. The errors result in damage to the brand and to the “responsible” person’s career.
Here are some of the top causes of such mistakes…