How to Engage Stakeholders with CSR Storytelling

Many (if not most) informational guides on CSR programs emphasize the importance of impact data. CSR (corporate social responsibility) professionals are constantly told to prioritize the cold, hard numbers to justify future CSR spending to executives. Investors also want to see tangible results on the bottom line.

We’re not going to argue that your CSR reporting doesn’t need lots of data. We’re saying your CSR toolbox needs room for another useful tool—CSR storytelling. It’s a need-to-have if your company wants to reach as many stakeholders as possible. 

Below, we’ll go over the important aspects of CSR storytelling and offer up some advice on making your company’s content as impactful as it can be.

Table of Contents:

• What is CSR Storytelling?
• Aligning CSR Storytelling with Key Stakeholders
• How to Engage Stakeholders with CSR Storytelling: 4 Essential Tips
  
  • 1. Ask Nonprofit Partners to Send Testimonies
  • 2. Directly Connect CSR Campaigns to On-the-Ground Impact
  • 3. Use Various Channels and Messages to Spread CSR Awareness
  • 4. Tie CSR Stories to Your Company’s Broader CSR Goals
• What Will Your Next CSR Story Be?

What is CSR Storytelling?

CSR storytelling is the act of bringing a company’s broader CSR strategies, goals, and principles to life through narrative content. 

Beyond conveying how much a company spent on CSR programs in a given year or how many employees volunteered for a specific event, many stakeholders benefit from hearing stories from people who benefited from these efforts. 

For instance, a company’s CSR team might choose to highlight a corporate grant that funds an after-school mentoring program for at-risk youth. The grant recipient could then detail some of the practical benefits of its work, including how certain students improved their grades during their time in the mentorship program. 

The stories of these students and their mentors connect the data behind the corporate grant with its real-world impact.

Why is CSR Storytelling Important?

Storytelling—and CSR storytelling, in particular—is important because, at a basic physiological level, the human brain craves compelling tales. 

Stories make information more memorable by triggering the release of oxytocin, which touches different areas of the brain and effects the firing of neurons that lie dormant when confronted only with non-narrative content. 

Humans tend to remember information attached to strong emotions and stories that demonstrate authenticity. Younger consumers increasingly seek out authentic brands when they’re making purchasing decisions, and storytelling is a powerful way for a company to communicate its values to the public.

Aligning CSR Storytelling with Key Stakeholders

Data is data—generally speaking, it can’t be dressed up, spun, or made more interesting than it already is. 

The beauty of CSR storytelling, though, is that the ones relaying the narratives can get creative with the granular content. 

Storytellers actually should get creative, because different stakeholders value certain types of stories over others.

One of the most important lessons of storytelling (and content production, in general) is to know your audience. With that in mind, here are some guidelines for tailoring your company’s CSR storytelling to four key stakeholder groups.

Executive Leadership

The C-suite ultimately wants CSR programs to have tangible effects on a company’s reputation, goodwill, and, in many cases, bottom line. Executives are typically responsible for analyzing the ROI of CSR programs and confirming their value in advancing the company’s broader CSR goals.

CSR storytelling for executives should show the employee participation rate of CSR programs and provide details about the benefits to every stakeholder. 

Connecting the data to real people’s challenges and solutions to their challenges is important when relaying information to company executives.

Employees 

Employees who participate in CSR programs typically become more engaged in their work and develop camaraderie with their coworkers. 

CSR storytelling for employees should home in on these feelings of belonging by illustrating the tangible effects of their volunteerism on their local communities. 

Mentioning specific employees by name accomplishes the increasingly important action of recognizing high-achieving workers.

Investors

Generally, CSR stories told to investors should have a lot in common with those told to executives. Investors want to see CSR programs that align directly with the company’s public-facing brand and long-term growth strategies. 

Include as much high-level data as you can that shows measurable impacts, both on aid recipients and the company’s workforce. 

Customers & Communities

Authenticity and transparency of a company’s CSR strategy are two traits that customers and clients value.

The rise of CSR and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) programs has not come without misleading claims from many companies about their societal impacts (see greenwashing as a prominent example). 

These external stakeholders enjoy seeing relatable stories from members of their own communities. 

How to Engage Stakeholders with CSR Storytelling: 4 Essential Tips

After carefully considering your audience and understanding the basics of CSR storytelling, you have the tools to create an impactful narrative. Further elevate the story with these four pieces of advice.

1. Ask Nonprofit Partners to Send Testimonies

Instead of searching for inspiring stories yourself, consider asking nonprofits and charities connected with your company’s CSR programs for success stories. It’s possible these organizations already have deep connections and trust with the communities they serve. 

Receiving introductions to individuals affected by your CSR efforts can reduce some of the legwork and make things more efficient.

2. Directly Connect CSR Campaigns to On-the-Ground Impact

Nothing else is more important in CSR storytelling than connecting program data with program recipients. 

While investors, executives, and other senior stakeholders value a compelling story as much as anyone else, they need constant reassurance that the company is realizing tangible value from CSR campaigns. 

Ensure each CSR narrative connects to positive financial outcomes for the company.

3. Use Various Channels and Messages to Spread CSR Awareness

Today’s fractured media environment requires brands to be present everywhere to reach their target stakeholders. Posting about your company’s CSR initiatives on numerous social media accounts should be only part of the comprehensive marketing and advertising strategy. 

Potential customers might look at a dedicated CSR page on your company’s website that features quick-hitting visuals and stories of real-world impact. Workers should enjoy easy navigation to CSR program information through their employee portals. 

Annual impact reports your company sends to investors should also include CSR storytelling. The importance of tailoring the message to the intended audience cannot be overstated.

4. Tie CSR Stories to Your Company’s Broader CSR Goals

CSR opportunities for companies of all sizes are numerous and span every segment of society. However, your company might want to focus on making an impact in the environmental space and reducing its carbon footprint, for instance. 

While a volunteer opportunity at a food bank is certainly a worthy endeavor, choosing a CSR initiative that more closely relates to environmentally conscious causes might be more appropriate.

Once you have the impact data from such programs, you can tell stories that directly connect to your company’s stated CSR goals.

What Will Your Next CSR Story Be?

Storytelling is the ultimate complement to extensive data on CSR programs and their measurable impacts. Without comprehensive and intuitive CSR software, however, gathering the information to write a compelling narrative can be exceedingly difficult. 

Groundswell’s digital platform eliminates data silos, ensuring employees and executives are never too far from the key metrics that guide CSR storytelling. Our tools make it easy to visualize impactful data and draw narratives from relevant, timely information.

We offer five-star-rated native apps that can scale with your company as it grows. Your CSR strategies and programs are never too big or small for Groundswell’s accessible software.

Schedule a demo with our team and start telling the world about the difference your company is making.