What is Corporate Social Responsibility?
According to the government's CSR website, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is:
"...the business contribution to our sustainable development goals. Essentially it is about how business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the way it operates - maximising the benefits and minimising the downsides."
From this premise, CSR can include:
· The relationship that a business develops with the communities that it operates within, including the local community, the industry or field and the sector;
· The responsibility that an organisation takes for its impact on the environment;
· The ‘ethical’ practices that a company engages with, including the treatment of workforce and customers, inclusion, accessibility and diversity;
· The contributions that a company makes to the economy, community and society.
Embracing CSR - what's in it for you?
CSR is typically associated with ethical practices, with giving back to the community, taking responsibility for your organisation and the impacts that it has on external contexts. Whilst these features are both valid and valuable in their own rights, the benefits are not all out-going. The beauty of CSR is that it is a two way street, a win win situation which organisations – both in the private and voluntary sector – communities, the environment and the wider society can profit from.
“ The Third Sector is stakeholder driven, the Private Sector is shareholder driven, CSR brings these two interests together”
