A resource for corporations & other businesses
that want to make a commitment to social responsibility
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)
This advice regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) - financial donations, in-kind donations, employee volunteering or taking on community roles as a representative of a company, such as serving on an advisory board at a nonprofit or government group - is different from most, and maybe all, of the other advice you may have been reading or hearing.
My advice is meant to be provocative. It's meant to be disruptive. Because I believe that CSR / corporate philanthropy is long overdue for some serious disruption. I'm sharing information and approaches and complaints that so many nonprofit, NGO and public school staff want to say to corporations and foundations, but they've been too afraid to - but I've been listening oh-so-carefully.
The old way - and, sadly, the current way - of thinking about corporate philanthropy, of businesses making donations of time and money to causes and communities, is based on either garnering positive public relations for the company - perhaps just to ease tensions over tearing down a historic site to build a parking lot - or the belief that businesses know better than nonprofits and should, therefore, use their financial gifts to push nonprofits, even public schools, into the directions businesses feel are best. It's also steeped in the belief that the for-profit world is highly-skilled and deeply knowledgeable while the nonprofit and mission-based world is run by amateurs with no areas of expertise.
Here's the reality:
Every business, whether a tech-savvy start up, a small storefront or a large corporation, is a citizen of a community: that company's employees and customers live and work somewhere, and how the employees do their work, how they travel to and for work, and how that work is produced or services are provided impacts neighborhoods, people, cultures and the environment, positively and negatively. No business, no corporation, not even a consultant working at home, is an island that has no impact on other places or people, near or far.
That impact comes with responsibilities, costs and consequences - financial costs, environmental costs and cultural impacts. Maybe farmland becomes industrial lands and housing, small towns become bedroom communities, the land where a popular bowling alley stands becomes so valuable that the prosperous business owners sell and retire - and the community loses a beloved gathering place.
Many of the financial costs that communities, neighborhoods and individuals have to shoulder that result from corporate/business prosperity are not covered by taxes - especially in this day and age of massive tax breaks for corporations and other for-profit companies. Many people are struggling to address those additional costs without any additional funding, while corporations and other businesses experience record profits and larger-than-ever tax breaks.
This section of my web site provides an index of resources meant to help for-profit businesses, large and small, engage in CSR in a way that really does benefit the causes, communities or nonprofits. It was created in response to the CSR advice that is focused more on public relations benefits for companies than on actual and positive impacts in communities, as well as in response to the fact that record profits corporations and other for-profit businesses are enjoying are not coming with increased donations to nonprofits, public schools and other mission-based groups.
Take the case of Silicon Valley: the San Francisco Bay Area has rapidly become the richest region in the country. It's a place where $100,000 Teslas are commonplace, unfiltered "raw water" goes for $37 a jug, and companies pay mega bucks for parties for employees, featuring high-profile comedians and other celebrities. Yet Sacred Heart Community Service, a San Jose nonprofit that helps low-income families with food, clothing, heating bills, and other services, actually received less in individual donations from the community in 2017 than it did the previous year. "We’re still not sure what it could be attributed to," Jill Mitsch, the funds development manager at Sacred Heart, said in this story about corporate profits and philanthropy in Silicon Valley. It’s not the only nonprofit trying to keep donations up—the United Way of Silicon Valley folded in 2016 amidst stagnant contributions. Here's more in this story.
Record homelessness, record numbers of people needing health care, more and more polarization in society, more and more social isolation, less and less feelings of community - and, yet, Silicon Valley is holding on tightly to its wealth and not investing in the nonprofits that cannot keep up with demand. And this is happening elsewhere: in Los Angeles, in Portland, Oregon, in Seattle, Washington, and all over the USA.
In June 2019, Metro United Way, a major funding source for
human services in the Jefferson County, Kentucky metropolitan
area, announced it was immediately cutting allocations to
nonprofit groups by up to 50% — dealing another blow to those
already expecting cuts from city government Kentucky. The cuts
affect nearly 100 agencies throughout the area, ranging from
programs for disadvantaged children such as Big Brothers Big
Sisters and Boys & Girls Clubs to agencies that help
individuals who are homeless, disabled or who are experiencing
domestic violence, mental illness or addiction. They also
affect specialized programs such as the Louisville Visually
Impaired Preschool Program, which helps blind and visually
impaired children throughout Kentucky and Indiana. Kentucky
Nonprofit Network CEO Danielle Clore said on a Facebook page post:
Time and again, #nonprofits are assured that private
philanthropy will increase when tax breaks “put more money
in people’s pockets.” And we are assured private
philanthropy will pick up the slack when local, state and
federal governments cut funding for basic human services as
a result of less revenue (note that many of the services,
government is mandated to provide).
The thinking is flawed and it’s dangerous, especially for
our most vulnerable citizens. If human needs aren’t your
thing, know that there’s an economic impact - cuts in
funding and declines in donations mean jobs are lost. The
#nonprofit sector employs 1 in 11 tax-paying, grocery
shopping, goods and services buying Kentuckians.
This situation isn’t unique to Louisville- it’s happening in
communities large and small across this Commonwealth. And
yet another blow awaits some organizations if their pension
issues aren’t addressed by June 30.
We simply cannot cut our way to prosperity. And we most
certainly cannot do it on the backs of #nonprofits.
According to this Jun. 7, 2019 article from Business Insider, the top 1% of earners are holding record amounts of money: $303.9 billion to be exact. Large companies are overwhelmingly and uniformly choosing not to reinvest much of it into their businesses nor in the community, and avoiding taxes at record levels; instead, they're hoarding cash and buying back stock. Companies could pay their workers more, but "that would be terrible for the stock market," says Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics — half-jokingly. money that would previously have been split between businesses, workers and the government for projects like schools, health care and infrastructure is instead sitting in corporate accounts earning little to no return.
The backlash against corporations has already started: early in 2019, after much publicity and fanfare and a nation-wide search that many felt was disingenuous, Amazon pulled out of its plans for massive new offices in Queens, New York, when the local community and others balked at the tax breaks and grants worth at least $2.8 billion for a company that is one of the world's richest and already has much of its online sales exempt from taxes, doubted the estimated 25,000 jobs Amazon said it would bring, expressed fears of rising rents pushing out long-term residents and talked about images of high-paid executives buzzing over nearby low-income housing projects on their way to company's helipad. In short, the deal became a symbol of corporate welfare.
And consider this: more than 200 charities from across the United Kingdom took part in in-depth surveys and interviews about how they are working with businesses and what could make these relationships even better. The report revealed that 6 in 10 charities believe that businesses put their own needs first in relationships and 76% say that businesses do not have a good understanding of what it takes for charities to manage employee volunteers. The report, which was released in March 2020, also had these takeaways for businesses:
In addition to CSR being something corporations and other businesses should look into for ethical reasons, it also is worth investing time and money in because it will help those companies attract and retain talent: A Spherion study in 2018 found that 78% of the employees surveyed consider their connection to a company’s culture and values during their job searches and 65 percent say that a company's online reputation is equally important as the offer in determining whether they will accept a job. How does your CSR activities reflect and promote your company's culture, values and reputation?
My approach to CSR is different than most other consultants: I strongly encourage a spirit of respect and collaboration between for-profit businesses and the nonprofits and communities they want to support. That means collaborative decision-making and goal setting, rather than a business telling a nonprofit, "Here's what we're going to do for you." It means listening to nonprofits, regularly, as they try to address the communities most critical needs, and hearing both their ideas for their solutions and their funding needs. It means corporations and other businesses stepping up and fulfilling their ongoing obligations as citizens, supporting not just social service organizations, but the arts, environmental groups, and other organizations that build our connection with each other. It also means nonprofits, including schools, feeling comfortable telling a business, "Thank you, but that's not something that fits with our mission. Here are some other ideas for you..." The end result is CSR that actually makes a difference and goes far beyond charity.
My advice regarding CSR comes from experiences both as a the corporate philanthropy representative at a Fortune 500 company and as the nonprofit liaison with various corporate funders and partners, in the USA and abroad.
If you want to see how my advice differs from others, see this list of CSR Resources From Various Initiatives.
These resources are in development. To know when new resources
are launched on my web site, follow me
on
social media: 
I'm Jayne Cravens. I'm a consultant regarding communications and community engagement, primarily for nonprofits, NGOs and other mission-based organizations. I have many years of experience working with corporations, governments, foundations and other donors, and for two years, I ran a corporate philanthropy program at a Fortune 500 company. I created these corporate social responsibility (CSR) pages on my web site out of frustration of the continuing disconnect between what mission-based organizations, including schools, are trying to accomplish and what corporations and other businesses want to fund and volunteer for. Most advice for CSR comes from people in the for-profit world who have never worked for a nonprofit, charity, public school, etc., and often has a paternal approach to working with mission-based organizations. My approach is different: I am urging the business world to be partners, not dictators, when it comes to the third sector.
Here are the services I can provide regarding CSR.
my home page my consulting services
& my workshops &
presentations my credentials & expertise Affirmation that this web site is
created & managed by a human. My book: The Last Virtual Volunteering
Guidebook contact me or see my schedule Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without
Tech Free Resources: On Community Engagement,
Volunteering & Volunteerism Free Resources: Technology Tips for Non-Techies Free Resources: Nonprofit, NGO & other
mission-based management resources Free Resources: Web Development, Maintenance,
Marketing for non-Web designers Free Resources: Corporate philanthropy / social
responsibility programs Free Resources: For people & groups that want
to volunteer linking to or from my web site The Coyote Helps Foundation me on social media (follow
me, like me, put me in a circle, subscribe to my newsletter)
how to support my workTo know when I have developed a new
resource related to the above subjects, found a great
resource by someone else, published
a
new blog or a new Tech4Impact email newsletter,
uploaded a new
video,
or to when & where I'm training or presenting, use any
of the following social media apps to follow me on any of
these social media platforms:
Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or
suitability is made by the poster/distributor of the materials
on this web site.
The information provided on this website is for general
informational purposes only and should not be considered legal
advice.
I am not a lawyer. I am not a legal professional. Do any
information on this site as legal counsel.
I am not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities
that may result from the use of this website or reliance on its
content.
Your use of this website and its information is at your own
discretion and risk.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied
warranty or liability.
See my web site's privacy policy.
Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is credited to:
Otherwise, please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).
The art work and material on this site was created and is copyrighted 1996-2026