Aurelia David
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is undoubtedly one of the most visible and well-known functions of public relations.
This area of business looks into the social aspects and responsibilities of an organisation by venturing beyond the day-to-day aspects and tapping into the needs of the community.
Renowned public relations scholar Skinner (2007) described CSR as, an area of management action, which was developed in response to the changes and demands of society at large and involves business, government and communities.
The main stakeholder in CSR is the community; a keyword in Skinner’s definition is ‘change’. A community will always have needs; however, these needs are variable, and they depend on several factors that will not remain constant.
The needs of a given community should be the focus of an organisation’s social responsibility investment. In order to make an impact with its CSR, an organisation needs to keep abreast with the ever-changing needs of the community.
Focusing on communities’ needs might sound like an obvious assertion, however a lot of organisations still miss the plot, CSR is often reduced to donation ceremonies and photo opportunities with the press.
The strategic aspect of identifying and effectively addressing the socio-economic challenges of a given community can easily get lost in a bid for ‘’good publicity’’.
The local media lit up with stories about large corporations making donations and helping the less privileged when the Covid-19 began to devastate communities, early last year.
The beneficiaries of these acts of goodwill which included financial donations and essentials such as face masks and sanitisers; were no doubt appreciative and for most organisations, the CSR stops there.
The long-term impact of a CSR initiative is seldom explored. The Covid-19 pandemic created a need for face masks, food, sanitisers and other essentials that is unquestionable.
However, what should be interrogated, are the needs of the community beyond that? How can organisations help meet those needs in the long-term? How can communities be empowered in order to meet these needs, with little assistance in the future? These are amongst the questions that organisations should ask themselves when taking on CSR initiatives.
Empowerment is key because when done right, the amount of money and resources spent on CSR can be significantly reduced.
Funds and resources can be channelled to other CSR initiatives and an organisation’s CSR scope is diversified.
Corporate Social Responsibility is so integral to some entities that it is considered to be a strategic business function under public relations management. When applied strategically, CSR can add tremendous value to any organisation.
Instead of donating fruits and vegetables every month, why not donate a piece of land and teach the community how to grow their food? This community could go on to sell some of this food and generate an income.
A young artist or entrepreneur who received training from an entity; could go on to train and employ several people.
The ripple effects of a well-planned and executed CSR initiative are priceless. It is time to look beyond the donation and invest in adding value, for the benefit of both the organisation and communities.