I think that area that I find most interesting in the PR industry is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. The main reason is because most companies use their CSR programs to connect with nonprofits. This portion of the PR sector directly connects both of my interests of in PR and nonprofits in a way that benefits two organizations and inform their customers of areas in which they can further support their favorite brands.
However, as I have began to research CSR’s more I have found that many take advantage of the good image that can come from them and use them only to boost their own image publicly. Many companies only implement them when their public image was tarnished by their own doing and because of this CSR’s get a really bad rep by many and cause them to be overlooked because of the lack of trust caused by fake CSR programs.
This lack of trust in CSR programs doesn’t necessarily hurt most companies as we have seen big companies in the past have CSR programs that are only used for show, continue to thrive. Instead the nonprofits and efforts that they set out to help get the short end of the stick and are truly hurt from the mistrust and false hopes given out by large companies. In recognizing this I have compiled a few ways in which you as the consumer can do to verify the legitimacy of a company’s s CSR program and ensure that your money is going to a sincere cause.
The first thing that you as a consumer can do is look at who owns the nonprofit or program that they are highlighting through their CSR program. If they company owns it or created it that means they may benefit more from it rather than if they take an already existing one. It can also mean that when their CSR campaign is done that initiative may end and all the efforts put into it will go to waste. Looking out for this can help you see what company’s are actually looking into the issues that they are creating and actively trying to solve them.
If a company does choose an outside organization to supports you should then go a step further and verify that the organization is legitimate. If the company doesn’t really care then they will choose any random organization and might not do their own research before endorsing them. If they are a nonprofit look to see their mission settlement, if they have the proper qualifications to be a certified nonprofit. Also looking to see any projects or initiative in the past helps you see if your money will actually be going towards a cause.
A quick and simple step that you can take is simply looking the companies website up. If they have the CSR program front and center that usually show the they are willing to sacrifice some for the better of the program. If you want to take that a step further you can see how much they mention the program and see if they make it easy for your to donate or learn more about the program.
The more dedication and effort that you can see a company put in usually means that they actually care and want to create good. Having awareness on the company and their past can help you navigate their CSR program to ensure that their intentions are to actually help and not just boost their image.
A company that has a really good CSR program and that truly shows that they care about creating good is Patagonia. While they haven’t been without their issues they recognized their wrong doings na have continued to show that they are working through them. I research their CSR program in the past and the main issues that they got in trouble with in the past was the unsustainable and harmful material that they used to create their products with. They recognized that and have slowly shifting towards more environmentally conscious materials. They know list the different materials that make up their products and how much of it is made with recycled materials.
The other area in which they have been criticized about in the past is the harmful production and manufacturing practeiss that they carried out. This issue is fairly common in the clothing industry as fast fashipon has grwon increasinglt popular. In light of this Patagonia has been rethinkgin the way that they producer their clothes and have been trying to create safer enviornments for their workers. They put the statisticxs of how they ahev been working to get better wages for their workers and gettign them more seducations. As well to combat the need for manufacturing they even had a CSR campaign that encourages consumers to not buy their porducts and instead use what they ahve to their full life span. As well they sell many items of theirs second hand and used.
Everywhere you go on their website has some sort of CSR effort or story. Instead of running and hiding from their issues they recognize them and show the efforts in which they are trying to solve them. This to me is a perfect example of how all CSR program should be. CSR programs are not supposed to show how perfect a company is but rather it is a chance for them to recognize an issues in which they may have ties to and ways in which they are making an effort to help.
As someone with a great interest in CSRs I encourage you all to continue nit to research CSRs and see for yourself what they should look like. While this area of PR is not without its flaws the issue in which they should address are real and dont deserves to be tarnished by those will ill intentions.