The Season of Giving- The Best of CSR in 2012

Click here for 2012 BRANDfog CSR Tree.

Two years ago, we wrote our first Fast Company post about the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility, pointing to the trend of companies integrating socially responsible practices directly into their core business mission. We also introduced the first CSR Tree, a Twitter-inspired graphic celebrating the pioneers and unsung heroes of the CSR movement. Today, the words corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and social enterprise aren’t buzzwords anymore, and have entered the collective vocabulary of business leaders who are beginning to change the very foundation on which corporations are built. According to Knowledge@Wharton, ten years ago only about a dozen Fortune 500 companies issued a CSR or sustainability report. Now, more than 8,000 businesses have signed the UN Global Compact pledging to show good global citizenship in the areas of human rights, labor standards and environmental protection.

It’s very encouraging to witness so many companies embracing CSR practices, and incorporating the notion of giving back as a core tenet of their organizations. Companies around the globe are under increasing pressure from socially-minded consumers to be open, transparent and accountable for their corporate practices, and to be stewards guarding the environmental and the societal impact of their businesses. 

In the spirit of holiday giving and as homage to the tireless voices who continue to raise the bar for CSR, we’d once again like to present the BRANDfog CSR Tree. The CSR Tree provides well-deserved recognition for some of the great thought leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility for 2012. 

If you think that we’ve missed a CSR or mission-driven individual or a company, please reach out to us on Twitter @BRANDfog. We’ll be happy to add additional CSR leaders to our lists and graphics going forward. 

Happy Holidays!

CSR Holiday Gifts for the Conscious Consumer

As we enter the season of holiday giving at work, we are confronted with the dilemma of deciding how to celebrate with colleagues without trivializing the challenges of the crippling economy. With every gift shipped to customers, a message is sent about a brand's core values. Against a backdrop of suffocating unemployment and unprecedented hardship, smart companies are looking for ways to demonstrate social consciousness while establishing an emotional connection with customers.

As 2010 comes to a close, the stage is set for a more enlightened year of corporate giving. The logical alternative to the proverbial fruit basket is Corporate Social Responsibility Gifting (CSR Gifting). CSR Gifting offers the opportunity to provide unique and thoughtful gifts for clients while serving a broader social purpose.

In this holiday spirit, I present twelve CSR Gift ideas for companies with a social conscience:

1.The Kate Spade Hand in Hand Bracelet - A beautiful, tasteful gift that was designed as part of the Women for Women International partnership, 25% of sales are donated to help women survivors in war-torn countries.
2.Fledgling Wine - Twitter and CrushPad are offering Fledgling Wine from renowned California wineries. A portion of the proceeds goes to Room to Read, a non-profit organization promoting literacy for children worldwide.
3.Rickshaw Bags - Rickshaw Bags crafts beautifully designed, highly functional sustainable fashion bags and iPad cases for urban commuters that are made in San Francisco from recycled, sustainable materials.
4.TOMS Shoes - Fun and stylish, for every pair of TOMS shoes sold, founder Blake Mycoskie donates a pair of shoes to a child in the developing world.
5.Nike Livestrong Jacket - The Nike Livestrong running jacket makes a great gift. A portion of the proceeds go to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation to fight cancer and to support cancer survivors.
6.Dancing Deer Baking Company - Dancing Deer offers wonderful cookies, gingerbread and dark chocolates. 35% of the proceeds go directly to helping homeless mothers and their children.
7.Viva Glam Holiday Products Line - Viva Glam Cosmetics supports the M∙A∙C AIDS Fund. The Fund was started in 1994 and donates every dollar of its sales to help support families living with HIV/AIDS.
8.Do Something!: A Handbook for Young Activists - Book proceeds support the innovative organization DoSomething.org, a nonprofit focused on promoting teen and youth volunteerism.
9.Tavern Direct Gifts - Tavern on the Green offers gift sets including marinades, finishing sauces and flavored oils coupled with authentic recipes from the famous NYC restaurant. Donations go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
10.Lakshmi's Designer Ornament - Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi designed this exotic ornament to bring a touch of India to any holiday tree. Proceeds from the sale benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
11.ONEHOPE Wine - ONEHOPE offers award-winning wine with 50% of the profits going the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Children's Hospitals.
12.Classy Cookies - Cookies for Kid's Cancer offers several delicious cookies as well as the special Box of Hope. Cookies are packed in beautiful gift boxes and include a note explaining the significance of the gift. 100% of the profits funds pediatric cancer research.

In challenging economic times, it is more important than ever to show appreciation for customers, but perhaps the days of simply throwing money around to make an impression are over. We may have unwittingly arrived at the dawn of a new era in business, where genuine connections between brands and customers are forged based on a shared belief in social purpose. As Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

The Making of a Modern CEO

The new normal in this economy is shaping up to be anything but normal. Businesses that have thrived for decades as industry icons are now permanently upended by the forces of the Web, social media, and new technologies that are crashing over the economy like a tidal wave.

Industries are experiencing systemic failure as a result of the digital revolution, coupled with an economy stuck in reverse. As noted in the book Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World [1], many industries have simply come to the end of their natural lifecycles, and business is going to have to be reinvented around a new set of principles including transparency, integrity, and collaboration.

As a result of these changes, the role of the CEO must evolve as well. The next generation of business leaders [2] will require new talents and a different set of skills to successfully grow business over the next decade. A modern CEO will focus on creating a business culture that's expansive, mapping a social purpose to the creation of goods and services. The new CEO will also change the way we think about leadership, and create a bulwark against the tide of business challenges coming our way over the next decade.

Here are three key characteristics for the modern CEO:

1.No Fear Communications-- The Modern CEO must shake off the "analysis paralysis" and listen and engage with social media. While it sometimes seems impossible to manage the fire hose of information, social channels provide what CEOs need most - unfiltered feedback. What's more, social media is the gift that keeps on giving. It's an early warning system, an instant feedback loop, and a brand sentiment barometer. Although CEOs are increasingly discussed in online venues, few are actually using social media to spread their own message. In a Weber Shandwick [3] Study, nearly two-thirds of CEOs were not engaging online at all, yet those who are enjoyed a better reputation with customers. CEOs need to blog, tweet, fan, follow, and friend their way into the hearts and minds of stakeholders.

2.No Fear Ambition-- A Korn Ferry [4] Study challenged organizations to identify future CEOs by distinguishing between blind ambition and true potential, the latter often being harder to identify. Today's CEO has to be comfortable in the digital realm, with ambitions to embrace mobile and social technologies and be willing to take a company in new directions. TechCrunch [5] notes that it is critical that Chief Executives have the right kind of ambition. That is, ambition for the success of the company rather than ambition for themselves. In 2011 we need to take this one step further. A Modern CEO needs to have ambition for the success of its employees, suppliers, the company, the community, and the planet.

3.No Fear World View -- To achieve success today, CEOs need to cultivate an external world view which guides the company in the broader context. For the Modern CEO, The Triple Bottom Line has become the ubiquitous measure of success: People, Planet, and Profits. The Edelman 2010 goodpurpose® Study [6] provides excellent insights into the rapid globalization of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Consumers in developing countries are leading the way in their drive to buy from companies that are sustainable, and demonstrate a global consciousness. Consumers in Brazil, China, India and Mexico are all more likely to purchase and promote brands that support good causes, outpacing peers in the west. U.S. companies can take lessons from these emerging markets, where eight out of ten consumers expect brands to donate a portion of their profits to support a good cause.

The characteristics of a great CEO will continue to evolve as society changes, and for a while it will be rough sledding. There is no doubt that a change is imminent however, as consumers and shareholders demand it. Right now 64% of consumers believe that it is no longer enough for corporations to give money; they must integrate good causes into their everyday business. While CEOs still need to set vision and strategy, going forward that vision will be mapped to the social purpose that the company actually serves. These are the realities of a global, interconnected world.

Leadership: Vigilantism 2.0

Imagine that you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, running a multi-billion dollar organization with its many moving parts. One day your Google alert shows an article stating that your company's operations in Asia are employing child labor, with young children working long days in harsh conditions. By the next morning there are 62 articles and 305 mentions of this story. By afternoon there's a Facebook boycott with 10,000 fans. The Twittersphere has lit up with Tweets and hashtags like #slavelabor, #boycott, and #savethechildren--terms that are now unfortunately tied to your brand. You've been "Inter.outed," a term used to describe how a company is "outed" on the Internet for doing very bad things.

We've all heard the horror stories about how brands can be derailed through negative social media. Remember the Domino's Pizza nose-picking YouTube video, and "Motrin Mommies" digital disaster? Last week, The Gap was caught with its khakis down in a logo design backlash. In less than 48 hours of social pressure, the Gap withdrew its new logo. There are also more serious examples. Whole Foods suffered a Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube boycott as well as bloggers who labeled them "A-Hole Foods" after the CEO stated that not everybody deserves health care. British Petroleum now has a worldwide Facebook boycott of more than 600,000.

While these boycotts can damage a brand, up until now business has not yet experienced the full force of Internet vengeance. There exists certain lawlessness on the Web, and individuals are only starting to understand the mighty influence they wield when they mass together in groups. Internet communities are still in their infancy, and users have yet to grasp the full depth of the power they have on the Web.

The New York Times reported on "cyberposses" in China, who dole out online vigilante justice by hunting down and punishing people. Internet vigilantism is often activated not for illegal behavior, but for socially reprehensible behavior. "The Kitten Killer of Hangzhou," for example, became the target of cyber sleuths who tracked her down and outed her. She lost her job, her apartment, and was made to leave town.

It's not much of a stretch to imagine that Internet vigilantism will soon cross over from individuals to organizations. Social activists use every media channel available to express disapproval for unfair or dishonest business practices. Users could easily turn to online vigilantism to punish companies who have attracted their wrath. The web is a great repository for track records, and has a long memory. If resentment over exorbitant Wall Street bonuses juxtaposed against illegal housing foreclosures ever boils over, vigilante groups could easily launch cyber-attacks on the banks they deem responsible. If a company employs sweatshop labor, is toxic to the planet, or mistreats its employees, tech-savvy users can crash servers, take down websites, and disrupt e-commerce business. Moreover, they can wage a ferocious battle for the hearts and minds of consumers to damage brand reputations.

So what is a CEO to do?

In this brave new world, CEOs need to prepare for the era of total transparency. Here are five steps a company can take to protect itself by strengthening its relationship with stakeholders:

• Clean house. Make sure your company is acting in good faith with customers, partners, and suppliers.

• Examine the supply chain, and make sure you are in compliance with all environmental and employee issues.

• Elevate your corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs to front and center. Integrate socially responsible initiatives directly into the core DNA of your company.

• Humanize your brand. Use Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging to address issues directly, take user concerns seriously, and respond quickly and thoughtfully with no marketing spin.

• Always tell the truth.

On the web, all transgressions are trackable, and no corporate misdeed will ever be forgotten. Companies must embrace the new culture of transparency for survival, since Netizens are willing to fight hard for anything they believe in--even if it's just a logo.

New York City • Great Leaders Conference • BRANDfog

Sometimes Big Change Comes in a Little Blue Box

From Fast Company

http://ht.ly/2R2tn

There's nothing like a brush with death to focus your attention.

The global economic collapse has been like a brush with death for business. It has changed our perspective and will have lasting aftereffects on our behavior. Last week I read a report called "Responsible Luxury" released by the World Jewelry Confederation. The report argued that because of the economic downturn, there are new motivating factors behind consumer decision making. We have entered an era where consumers prefer to buy products from a company with a good reputation for social responsibility. The report also suggests that this turn of events will propel companies in the distressed luxury market to adopt conscientious business practices as the only option for survival.

This is good news for the diamond industry, which has long been criticized for fueling unrest, particularly in diamond-rich central and western Africa. More to the point, it's great news for the countless families, communities, and countries ravaged by the effects of 'conflict' diamonds.

Influential industry brands are stepping up to support the "responsible luxury" trend. Recently Tiffany & Co., the world's premier jeweler and the gold standard (pun intended) of the luxury industry , stated that they are actively embracing corporate social responsibility (CSR). As regards large-scale mining, Tiffany pledges to strive to source gemstones and precious metals from mines that operate at the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility.

This is important because Tiffany has a 19 percent share of the global jewelry market. This move is sure to be a catalyst for change. What it means is that Tiffany has the opportunity to set standards for best practices. Ethical jewelry currently accounts for less than 1 percent of the $56 billion market in annual jewelry sales. But when a revered brand like Tiffany proactively engages in CSR, it is bound to have powerful cascading effects across the entire luxury goods industry.

This is also a smart business move for Tiffany, because consumers are becoming increasingly conscientious about the origins of the products they buy. An excellent study on this topic from Cone titled "Consumers Like Companies With Cause," states that causes help to convert new customers and revealed that 83 percent of U.S. consumers have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about. What's more, the study reveals that consumers are asking for transparency; 90 percent of consumers surveyed confirmed that they want companies to tell them about the ways in which they are supporting causes.

On the consumer behavior front, 80 percent of Americans say they are likely to switch brands to buy a product equal in price and quality from a company that supports a cause, and 19 percent will even buy a more expensive brand. This should be music to the ears of the luxury goods companies, which desperately need to spark beleaguered consumers to spend more this holiday season.

These are still early days to demonstrate the inherent value of CSR from the perspectives of consumer mindshare, market share, and profitability. It will take time for C-suite and boardroom discussions to reevaluate a company's social contract with the environment and the communities in which they do business.

Still, I often talk about CSR being a tsunami that will wash over business and change everything. I firmly believe this is so. Tiffany is leading a big change by setting an example in a little blue box.

Michael J. Kowalski, Chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co put it this way: "Tiffany & Co. is committed to crafting our jewelry in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible. It is simply the right thing to do: Our customers expect and deserve nothing less."

New York City • Great Leaders Conference • BRANDFog

Philanthropy Is the Gateway to Power

BY Fast Company CSR Expert Blogger Ann Charles

While catching up with old episodes of "Mad Men," I was brought up short by a show-stopping quote from Roger Sterling. Sterling, the senior partner at the Sterling Cooper Agency, tells Creative Director Don Draper that he's been invited to join an arts foundation board. Looking puzzled, Don asks "What does that mean?"

Without skipping a beat, Roger says "Philanthropy is the gateway to power."

Then he elaborated: "There are few people who decide what will happen in our world. You have been invited to join them--pull back the curtain and take your seat."

And so it was. For generations, traditional philanthropy was the exclusive domain of the wealthy and powerful. Many of the great benefactors of the early 20th century made their fortunes from the railroad, steel, and oil industries. These industrial giants sat on boards of nonprofit foundations that they themselves established to oversee how their treasure troves would be dispensed. They determined which causes were worthy. Much of the philanthropic activity was focused on large, sweeping gifts to benefit big institutions like the New York City Public Library, the ballet, universities, and art museums.

How times have changed. Many of today's entrepreneurs are building their businesses based on the idea of fulfilling a new kind of social contract, one in which organizations voluntarily take responsibility for the "triple bottom line": people, planet, and profits. While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not a new concept, it has new meaning in a Web 2.0 world. For consumers, the Internet and social media deliver a kaleidoscope view of a company's corporate culture. Given this new insight, consumers are exercising their right to patronize companies with values that mirror their own.

Companies today have to address questions that are external to their core business. Does the organization have a moral compass? Does it support worthy causes? Is it a good corporate citizen? Stepping back and taking a fresh look also gives brands a great opportunity to redefine themselves and optimize for the future. It should come as no surprise to corporate America that CSR has become a talent magnet, a sales magnet, and an investor magnet.

How is CSR a talent magnet? Research is revealing the none too startling news that people want to work for caring and ethical employers. According to last year's study by Kelly Services Inc., acting in a socially and environmentally responsible manner is what it takes to gaini top talent. Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they are more likely to work for an organization perceived as ethically and socially responsible. A more recent study opened eyes by revealing that one-third of workers would take a pay cut to work for a socially responsible firm.

How is CSR a sales magnet? Globally conscious consumers are changing the rules about consumerism. A 2010 CSR Branding Survey noted that consumers are much more likely to purchase a product with an "added social benefit." We are experiencing a trend in which consumers want companies to meet their needs and simultaneously have a positive impact on society. And why not? Enlightened consumers want their food to be organic, their coffee free trade, their purchases sustainable, and everything to be green. They are even willing to pay a premium for goods from socially responsible companies.

How is CSR an investment magnet? A slew of books and articles have come out recently that articulate the value of socially responsible investing, including the ubiquitous "Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies." The premise is that companies can do well financially by doing good. SKS Microfinance is an example of this concept. A recent New York Times article noted that SKS is aiming to raise $344 million in an initial public offering. This is being closely watched to determine if big profits can be made through the small micro-loans that are changing the lives of thousands of entrepreneurs in the developing world. The early financial results looks good. Socially responsible investment funds largely outperformed their benchmarks in 2009, according to Social Investment Forum data.

The corporate giants of our time are starting to follow in the footsteps of their industrialist predecessors. While yesterday's philanthropists were Getty, Guggenheim, Astor, and Carnegie, today's benefactors are Gates, Buffet, Turner, and Moore. These great leaders are working from a platform of social responsibility, and have started to address some of the most intractable problems of our time such as poverty, global illiteracy, and disease.

The next natural evolution of this trend is the new "social enterprise," a social mission-driven organization that applies market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose. In Andrew Carnegie's 1889 essay "The Gospel of Wealth," he stated that business and the wealthy are the caretakers of our future society. At the time Carnegie's ideas were the exception rather than the rule. Today, many small and large companies are still new to CSR. If the social enterprise enjoys financial success, CSR can become a fundamental principle for businesses rather than an afterthought.

To use a quote from Winston Churchill that even Don Draper would appreciate, "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

Ann Charles is founder and CEO of BRANDfog, offering social media and corporate social responsibility strategy (CSR) for CEOs. She is also founder and producer of the Great Leaders Conference, an event honoring great leaders in CSR, social advocacy, sustainability, and innovation; speakers include Fast Company columnist Nancy Lublin, Yele Haiti Founder Wyclef Jean, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz, among others.Fast CompanyEditor Robert Safian will help moderate Q&A sessions. Register today at Great Leaders Conference.

When Women Rule the C-Suite

From Fast Company http://ht.ly/2LoxU

I have a theory. It is that once women rule the "C-suite," corporate social responsibility (CSR) will become the norm for U.S. business. Why? Call me sexist, but I think that helping others is a function of nurturing and comes more naturally to women than it does to men.

The idea that organizations have responsibilities beyond making payroll and profits is more intuitive for women leaders. Tending to the needs of communities, offering child care for employees, providing time for volunteerism and environmental consciousness--it all will be a given. When a woman inhabits the C-Suite, socially responsible thinking will be baked right into the organization's DNA.

Here are four proof points, which I stipulate are patently unscientific:

1. More Women Work in Nonprofits. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, women make up about two-thirds of the nonprofit work force. This may be because nonprofit employment allows for a life balance that appeals to women. It may also be true that it's easier for women to sacrifice pay and benefits for the opportunity to work for a cause they believe in. Whatever the reason, it seems that women are more likely than men to spend their time and energy focused on others.

2. More Women Volunteer. The U.S. Department of Labor report shows that women volunteer at a higher rate than men across all age groups, educational levels, and other major demographic characteristics. The psychologist Dr. Val Hannemann says that women volunteer because they are hard-wired to be engaged in their communities. Volunteering connects women, and expands their sense of community. They share, they empathize, and they adopt new strategies to make a difference in the world.

3. More Women Give to Charity. A study from the Center for Philanthropy on gender and generational differences in motivations for giving showed that women are more likely to give than men (85.6% compared with 80.7%), and that women feel a strong sense of responsibility to help those who have less in our society (30% versus 26%). Although it is widely assumed that women are more charitable than men, The Wall Street Journal poll puts a number on it: wealthy women give away nearly twice as much as of their wealth as their male counterparts.

4. More Women Join the Peace Corps. Founded in 1961, the Peace Corps sends volunteers to serve in countries all over the world. Health and safety risks are an inherent part of service as volunteers serve worldwide, often in very remote areas. Volunteers are asked to make a commitment to live in a foreign country and adjust to a new culture while helping locals with education, community development, and the environment. The conditions can be rough, with very few creature comforts. Peace Corps volunteers are 60% female and 40% male.

So how do we know women CEOs would embrace CSR? Frankly, right now we don't, because the sample size of women in CEO positions is statistically insignificant. As of this year, there are 28 women CEOs in Fortune 1000 companies. While women make up 56 percent of the American workforce, only 2.8% of the Fortune 1000 companies are led by female CEOs.

But I am ever hopeful. For the first time in 220 years, three women are now serving on the United States Supreme Court. If we can trust women to decipher our laws and ensure that the United States remains a land guided and governed by the Constitution, maybe one day we can trust them to run Procter & Gamble?

For those women who are patiently waiting to take the CEO reins and help change the world, here is a quote to live by from one notable woman at the top:

"There were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. You want to be in the first group; there is much less competition."

--Indira Gandhi

Ann Charles is founder and CEO of BRANDfog, offering social media and corporate social responsibility strategy (CSR) for CEOs. She is also founder and producer of the Great Leaders Conference, an event honoring great leaders in CSR, social advocacy, sustainability, and innovation; speakers include Fast Company columnist Nancy Lublin, Yele Haiti Founder Wyclef Jean, Zappos CEO Tony Hseih, Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz, among others. Fast Company Editor Robert Safian will help moderate Q&A sessions. Register today at Great Leaders Conference.