Harvard Business School professor and strategy guru Michael Porter made a compelling argument for business as a force for social change at TED Global in 2013. The business world was paying attention.
What does Whole Foods' shareholder trouble say about CSR?
Yesterday, Whole Foods Market Inc. announced that the firm is replacing five of its board members, likely in response to pressure from it’s second largest shareholder, Jana Partners LLC. Whole Foods stock has been underperforming, having lost roughly half its value since it’s 2013 peak of $65 per share. It’s enough to make one wonder if maybe this whole corporate social responsibility thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
More Great CSR: Give, by Zappos for Good
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The next frontier in CSR: Lobbying
Some practitioners are concerned that the brand and reputation gains of CSR don't seem to stick around for long. And unfortunately, much of the research on the long term impact of good social performance is focused on edge cases. "Did Deepwater Horizon affect BP's consumer perception around social responsibility?" Um... duh. Yes. The culprit, I suspect, is actually integrity.
What if small firms gave like big ones?
More specifically, what if small firms gave the same proportion of net income that big firms did? There are many more small businesses than there are large businesses. If we can figure out a way to break through whatever barrier is preventing them from making charitable donations, we can potentially do an awful lot of good.
How to gracefully say "no" to charity requests
A few days ago I was in a meeting setting up a new corporate foundation for a small business. When I asked whether or not the firm wanted a way to take online requests, one of the partners said, “Absolutely not. We’ll get bombarded! As it is, I get people calling saying, ‘Hi, I’m [big client]’s cousin, would you sponsor my charity event?’”
Kickstarter is setting a great example
4 reasons not to add restrictions to a donation
In an attempt to “do it the right way” many companies, foundations, and individuals add specific conditions to their charitable donations. But adding restrictions to a gift adds unnecessary complexity, reduces the impact of the gift, and in some cases can turn out to eliminate your tax deduction. In other words, it's generally a bad idea.
In-kind gifts: Donate without writing a check!
Corporate philanthropy doesn’t have to be limited to just writing checks. Charities also appreciate donations of time, skills, inventory and capacity. Of these alternative options, the IRS has given “in-kind” donations of inventory a few complicating wrinkles, so we’ll try to smooth those out for you today.
