How to Launch a CSR Program, Step-by-Step

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is no longer the domain of large, multinational corporations. Your company doesn’t need a corporate foundation to get started, nor does it need to immediately begin working toward becoming a certified B Corporation. 

All your company really needs in order to start a CSR program is a commitment from managers, a collective resolve from employees, and a few resources.

Below are the general steps involved in getting a CSR program off the ground. The steps apply no matter your company’s size or industry. Let’s get into it!

Table of Contents:

• What is a CSR Program Exactly?
• Before Launching a CSR Program: Prerequisites to Check Off
• Designing Your CSR Program: Ideas & Examples
• Managing the Logistics of Your CSR Programs
• With Groundswell, Launching a CSR Program is Effortless

What is a CSR Program Exactly?

A CSR program consists of tangible charitable acts from companies that benefit more than just their clients and employees. 

The guiding principle of CSR is that businesses should leave the world better than they found it. Companies have great power to shape their communities and society's culture, and with that great power comes great responsibility.

Companies that describe themselves as “purpose-driven businesses” cannot exist without robust CSR programs. Social and environmental consciousness should be ingrained in every process and system in a purpose-driven business—so much so that they become inseparable from the business itself.

A few examples of CSR programs companies commonly participate in include: 

• Employee volunteerism
• Corporate philanthropy, including employee donation matching
• Corporate grants
• Donor-advised funds (DAFs)
• Employee assistance funds (EAFs)

These CSR programs are some of the simpler, easier-to-launch initiatives for small businesses or companies new to CSR. It makes good business sense to launch CSR programs, too; the overwhelming majority, 92%, of studies on the topic report that companies benefit from CSR.

Before Launching a CSR Program: Prerequisites to Check Off

If you’re still in the early (or very early) stages of planning, now’s the best time to understand the prerequisites of launching a CSR program. You’ll want to have these boxes checked off before holding the first CSR event.

1. Gain Clarity and Buy-in from the C Suite

Even in today’s heavily democratized workplaces, owners and managers are responsible for developing companies’ cultures. There’s little chance the rank-and-file employees will embrace CSR programs if their superiors don’t champion the cause—at least in the beginning.

As your company’s CSR representative, you need assurances from executives that a potential CSR program will be given the funds, time, and resources necessary to thrive. The higher-ups may provide early parameters or ROI targets that can inform the rest of the planning process.

2. Align the CSR Program with Your Company’s Purpose

Implementing a CSR program at your company shouldn’t feel like forcing a square peg into a round hole. Rather, the CSR programs should feel like natural extensions of your company’s existing culture. If you don’t feel your company has a definable purpose, now’s the best time to create one. The world needs to know why your company exists.

3. Speak with Your Employees and Get Feedback

Buy-in from every employee, or at least the vast majority, ensures the program’s participation rate will be high enough to justify its costs. The best way to start a CSR program that employees will be excited about is to include them early and often in the planning process. Eventually, a handful of employees might even take the lead on particular programs or events.

4. Set Realistic Goals

Be kind to yourself and your team with early CSR programs. No act of service is too small to change the world, so allow the company to set realistic goals at the outset. Deciding on attainable benchmarks lets you collect the data that matters and make necessary adjustments.

Depending on which programs your company wants to participate in, your team may want to measure:

• Total number of volunteer hours logged, either for a specific period or initiative
• The collective amount donated by employees and matched by the company
• The percentage of employees who participate in the first year
• Amount raised relative to CSR program expenses

Don’t worry too much about setting the right number for your KPIs in the beginning. Deciding upon the actual KPIs is more important.

Designing Your CSR Program: Ideas & Examples

Now that you have a solid foundation for your future CSR programs, it’s time to decide what, exactly, you want your company to do. Don’t be afraid to dream big!

1. Employee Giving & Gift Matching

Many people see this as the simplest CSR program. Employees can either donate cash or set aside a portion of their paychecks for worthy causes. To incentivize participation and maximize impact, your company could match employees’ donations. Consider time-bound campaigns for a little urgency.

2. Corporate Volunteerism

Plenty of workers are more comfortable generating sweat equity. Volunteering days are great for developing camaraderie and some fantastic PR content. The company might even want to look at matching monetary contributions to volunteer hours.

3. Grantmaking

Instead of looking for donation recipients yourself, why not let the causes come to you? 

That’s attainable through well-structured, well-advertised corporate grants. Your company gets to set all the parameters of the monetary contributions, and the grantees even help you out with impact reporting. 

4. Employee Assistance Funds (EAFs)

CSR programs can also take care of those stakeholders closest to your company through EAFs. Employees with access to EAFs can submit fund requests for specific events, such as the loss of a home or unexpected illness. These funds provide extra peace of mind for workers as they navigate the uncertainties of life.

Managing the Logistics of Your CSR Programs

Even the best-planned CSR programs can deteriorate if employees don’t have the right tools to manage them. Here are some critical logistical areas to address before launching something at your company.

Collecting Data that Matters

You will probably have to justify your CSR programs continually to managers, executives, owners, and investors. These decision-makers seek cold, hard data to confirm that the expenditures are resulting in measurable impacts. Furthermore, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. 

Choosing the Right CSR Software

For the vast majority of companies, free spreadsheet tools and shared Google Docs aren’t enough to effectively manage their CSR programs. Purpose-built CSR platforms, like the one offered by Groundswell, exist to make socially responsible programs as efficient as possible.

A few of the many capabilities offered through Groundswell’s CSR software include:

• Automated, real-time data collection that reduces administrative work by 90 percent
• Timely, reliable information about charities and nonprofits from Candid’s Guidestar
• Instantly matched donations
• Distributions to nonprofits and charities within 24 hours
• Participant segmenting and tailored programming
• HRIS and Slack integration
• Scalable programs for growing companies
• SOC 2 Type II compliance
• Flat, one-percent distribution fees 

Users also have access to all the tools with our five-star-rated mobile app.

With Groundswell, Launching a CSR Program is Effortless

Digital support for your CSR programs can make or break the entire effort. Groundswell’s bespoke software balances affordability with comprehensive tools, enabling every company, no matter the size, to embrace CSR.

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