business resources
Steve Streit on Good Corporate Citizenship - 7 Guidelines
Staff
11 Dec 2024
You started (or joined) your business to make money. That’s what businesses are supposed to do, after all.
No one is asking you to change this. However, many business leaders are waking up to the reality that their employees, and more importantly, their customers, want them not only to do well for themselves but to do good for others.
Seasoned entrepreneurs and investors like Steve Streit have known this for years, and they’re eager to share what they know with the next generation of philanthropically-inclined leaders.
“By supporting charitable causes that align with your corporate values and benefit the communities you serve, you have the potential to increase goodwill among your customers and enhance your reputation as an employer,” Streit says.
Not sure where to begin? Follow these seven guidelines to become a better corporate citizen.
1. Incorporate Corporate Philanthropy Into Your Mission and Values Statement
Many people choose to keep their philanthropic activity private. While reasonable for individuals who prefer to avoid the limelight, it may be counterproductive for businesses for whom community engagement can be a powerful signifier of their corporate values.
“Aligning yourself with charitable work not only sets a great example but allows you and your team to play an active role in community improvement,” says TH Herbert, corporate giving expert and CEO of Semarchy.
If you prefer not to advertise every single philanthropic move you make, consider a middle ground whereby you incorporate charitable “pillars” or “guidelines” into your corporate mission statement.
2. Set a Strategy for Effective Giving and Voluntarism
Corporate giving increased by 3% in 2023 even as overall charitable donations declined by a similar amount, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, likely due in part to employees’ individual and collective efforts to push their employers to “do more.”
It follows that your organization must have a formal strategy for corporate giving and volunteering. You may choose to take this step privately, in internal communications and documentation only. Still, it’s important that you are transparent with your employees and stakeholders (including your board of directors) about your charitable activities.
3. Listen to Your Employees
Most philanthropically-active organizations do more than simply set a top-down giving strategy. They involve their employees in the process, allowing them to set priorities, choose recipients of funds or volunteer hours, and actively participate in the execution of the organization’s charitable endeavors.
It begins with an earnest and, ideally, comprehensive effort to source input and feedback from charitably-inclined team members.
“Asking for feedback shows employees that management respects their insights and wants to act on their experiences,” says Shayna Waltower, an organizational dynamics expert at Business News Daily.
4. Listen to Your Customers, Too
One in four customer-facing corporate representatives say they have poor visibility into their customers’ motivations and preferences. There are more pressing reasons to correct this than to learn how your customers feel about your philanthropic endeavors, to be sure, but it’s nice to have your finger on that particular pulse too.
Because here’s the thing: Being vocal about charitable activities that alienate your customers may be worse than not saying anything about them at all. Better to find out what your most important stakeholders want the easy way — by asking them.
5. Develop a Robust Community Benefits Program
If your organization has a significant physical impact on the world — say, through housing or infrastructure development — your philanthropic activities must first and foremost benefit the communities its work affects. Done right, such community benefits programs can engender immense goodwill and make it much easier for you to accomplish your business goals.
6. Share Best Practices With Peer Organizations
Philanthropy is more enjoyable when it’s done in partnership with others. To that end, don’t be shy about your work; instead, celebrate and share it with like-minded organizations in your industry and beyond. You might just learn something in the process.
7. Review Your Strategy Frequently
Like any corporate initiative, philanthropy must be monitored, measured, and modified as needed. Set quarterly or twice-annual check-ins with team members (or outside consultants) responsible for guiding and executing your company’s giving strategy, as well as with the rank-and-file stakeholders (including employees) most interested in its success. If something isn’t working, pull the plug on it sooner rather than later and refocus on more productive endeavors.
Live Your Values Every Day
Where you choose to direct your company’s surplus resources says a lot about its priorities — and your team’s.
While you have the final word (as you should) about whether and how you contribute, it’s wise to remember that your customers, employees, and other stakeholders are watching. Act accordingly, and in a way that showcases the values you and your fellow leaders hold most dear.
