Imagine that your organisation has just empowered cocoa farmers in your community. This initiative will reduce your input cost by 50 per cent while enhancing the lives of the farmers in your local community. It will also reduce your carbon footprint by 30%. How does your organisation communicate these corporate social responsibility (CSR) results to stakeholders?
More and more, organisations are being tasked with demonstrating that they are operating ethically and not harming the planet while making profits. On the other hand, organisations are weary of being accused of greenwashing and bluewashing. In this post, we provide some guidelines for credibly communicating CSR results.
Present CSR results against objectives
Before embarking on a CSR programme, you should have a carefully crafted strategy that includes SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound) objectives. To communicate the CSR results, present achievements side-by-side with the pre-defined goals. This will give credibility to the results.
In video below, Apple was able to creatively demonstrate the company’s impact using numbers. Numbers always speak volumes.
Share results using multiple channels
An organisation is answerable to several stakeholders who get information from different sources. Sharing CSR results through multiple channels will enable the business to reach various stakeholders. For example, employees should be continuously informed through emails and newsletters. The host community can be engaged through events and the wider public through your website, news releases, social media and sustainability reports.
Be truthful, avoid greenwashing and bluewashing
Greenwashing refers to creating a false impression about the organisation’s product so that they are perceived as environmentally friendly while bluewashing refers to presenting an organisation as ethically and morally responsible for economic gain. Do not speak about CSR without actually being responsible because CSR has the potential to affect an organisation’s reputation positively or negatively, and reputation is both what you say and do.
Use storytelling
Everyone loves a human interest story. Tell CSR impact stories about the beneficiaries. Don’t make it about organisational puffery! It is also advisable not to spend more than the value of a CSR programme to communicate the results. And be careful not to overbrand communication materials.
Be sensitive
Choosing the photos and images to accompany a news release or CSR report is an art. Some organisations have been accused of portraying third-world beneficiaries of philanthropic initiatives in a demeaning way. So when shooting or choosing pictures for CSR communication ensure that they capture the essence of the story while being respectful.
