Making the case for corporate citizenship

Posted in Blog. Written by LSG on June 30th, 2010

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) recently posted on its website a compelling case about the benefits reaped by those corporations that practice “corporate citizenship” and encourage their employees, partners, and suppliers to embrace the culture of giving back as well. In the form of donated time, funding, and/or talent, companies are increasingly finding positive reasons to show themselves as community leaders and investors in civic engagement.

According to the article, companies who embrace a culture of civic and community responsibility and giving receive a huge return, including “double bottom-line results in employee loyalty and revenue”:

• Members on the 2009 Corporate Responsibility Officer’s 100 best corporate citizens list reported a 2.37 percent return shareholder value over three years, while the 30 “worst” corporate citizens experienced a negative 7.38 percent return.
• A Cone study found nearly eight of ten Millennials (those born 1980 and after) want to work for a company that contributes to society, while more than half say they would refuse to work for an “irresponsible corporation.”
• A 2010 CSR Perception Survey conducted by Penn Schoen Berland found 40 percent of respondents said they would take a pay cut to work at a socially responsible company, and 72 percent would sacrifice spending or salary to support corporate social responsibility initiatives.
• The same survey found 75 percent of consumers say corporate responsibility is important to them, and they are more likely to purchase products or services from a company after reading its responsibility agenda.

The article concludes with a question: “What are some corporate civic engagement models and practices you have found to be effective, engaging, and sustainable?” We found many of the responses in the comments following the article to be quite creative and motivating. We encourage you to read them, and add your own below in our comment section. We will feature some of the top answers in a future blog post.