CCS Corporate Social Responsibility News

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Corporate Social Responsibility

2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study
(10/06) The 2006 Cone Millennial Cause Study is the first in-depth
study of its kind to explore how corporate cause-related initiatives
influence Millennials ages 13-25 as consumers, employees and citizens.

PR Week/Barkley Public Relations Caus e Survey
(10/06) The PR Week/Barkley Public Relations Cause Survey looked at
consumer responses to cause marketing in three age groups, 18-29,
30-41 and 42-60. The survey addressed respondents' level of support
to nonprofits in time and money, as well as corporate behavior,
corporate giving, corporate motives, corporate focus, and charitable
goals.

The Other CSR
(Fall 2006) A number of corporations have seen their efforts to sell
socially responsible products fall flat because consumers failed to buy
them in any significant numbers. There are, however, a variety of
strategies that corporations can take to increase their odds of success.
This article looks at the other CSR, consumer social responsibility.

College Students Tuned Into Socially Responsible Brands: Alloy
2006 Study
(7/06) The 5th Annual College Explorer Study probed the attitudes of
US college students (18-30), a group with $182 billion in spending
power. The study found 45% of students are active volunteers; 33%
prefer brands that give back to the community, are environmentally safe,
or are connected to a cause; and 24% have purchased a product in the
last year because it was viewed as socially conscious. The 2006 Alloy U
Award winners for Top Socially Responsible Brands are Ben & Jerry's,
Newman's Own, Burt's Bees, Yoplait, American Apparel, Starbucks,
Seventh Generation, Nike, Body Shop and Coca-Cola.

2006 Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award Winners
(6/06) The 2006 Cause Marketing Halo Award winners were recently
announced at the 4th Annual Cause Marketing Forum. The business
winner is The Home Depot and the nonprofit winner is KaBOOM.
Campaign awards include Best Social Service/Education, Best Health,
Best Environmental/Wildlife, Best Transactional, Best Joint Message
Promotion, Best Event, Best Print Creative and Best National/Local
Integration.

L istmania! Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Lists Drive
Improved Performance
(5/06) CSR lists encourage better corporate social and environmental
performance. Popular lists include Business Ethics magazine's "100
Best Corporate Citizens"; Corporate Knights magazine and Innovest
Strategic Value Advisors produce the "Global 100 Most Sustainable
Corporations in the World"; and Fortune magazine publishes its annual
"Most Admired Companies" and "100 Best Companies to Work For".

Corporations see benefits in long-term charity efforts
(5/06) Companies are seeing long-range business benefits in charitable
projects in developing countries, what some call "strategic philanthropy".
Companies can improve their images in foreign countries and among
consumers at home. They reap benefits to employee morale and
recruiting and lay the groundwork in future markets.

Part of the Solution: Leveraging Business and Markets for
Low-Income People
(12/05) This report presents lessons learned from the Corporate
Involvement (CI) Initiative of the Ford Foundation, an effort that sought
to demonstrate that businesses could use core operating resources and
competencies in ways that contribute to large-scale improvement in
income and assets for low-income people, while also boosting the
corporate bottom line.

Market-Based Strategies that Benefit Low-Income Communities
(11/05) Changemakers announced the four winners of the
Market-Based Strategies that Benefit Low-Income Communities
competition. In the citizen sector, the 1st place winner is the Rural
Women Bank from India and the 2nd place winner is the RUGMARK
Consumer Awareness Campaign based in the U.S. In the business
sector, the 1st place winner is the Mango Tree Educational Enterprises
from Uganda and the 2nd place winner is the Sambazon Sustainable
Açai (Sustainable Management of the Brazilian Amazon) from Brazil.
Changemaker's current Innovation Award Competition is Meeting
Disaster: Before, During and After.

The Myth of CSR
(Fall 2005) This recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review
questions whether corporate social responsibility is truly effective in
making corporations more socially responsible. It challenges four
primary myths related to CSR and suggests more effective alternatives.

Doing Well by Doing Good 2005: The Trajectory of Corporate
Citizenship and American Business
(6/21/05) Second annual Golin-Harris survey shows consumers feel
somewhat better about companies' corporate citizenship practices.
40% of respondents say good corporate citizenshp makes them more
willing to do business with a company. However, only 25% believe
corporate America is doing an "excellent" or "good" job in its commitment
to corporate citizenship. The survey rates the performance of 108
companies, based on 12 key drivers.

A New Model to Aid Nonprofits in Developing Revenue Streams
(5/05) GuideStar explains a new model for joint ventures between
nonprofits and for-profits, a for-profit Limited Liability Company (LLC).
IRS Revenue Ruling 2004-51 describes seen elements that must be
included in the LLC.

2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study
(12/8/04) The latest findings of an 11-year research poll shows that
90% of Americans say that corporate support of causes wins their trust
in that company. 86% said they were likely to switch from one brand to
another that is about the same in price and quality, if the other brand
is   associated with a cause. A company's commitment to a social issue
is important   when deciding where to work (81%), which products and
services to recommend to other people (74%), and which stocks or
mutual funds to invest in (70%). "Aligning with a cause is a significant
strategy for companies to attract consumers and a future workforce at
an early age and gain a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage."

Deloitte Survey Finds Corporate Community Involvement
Influences Employment Decisions
(10/6/04) Deloitte survey reveals 92% of Americans think it is important
for companies to make charitable contributions to nonprofits in the
community; 87% believe it is important to offer volunteer opportunities to
employees; and 72% want to work for companies that support charitable
causes.

Clear Advantage: Building Shareholder Value
(2/04) This Global Environmental Management Initiative report adds to
the growing body of evidence correlating social and environmental
performance with shareowner value.

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