so. i was out the other night, and happen to engage in a conversation about corporate social responsibility with some guy who's in the corporate world. the conversation didn't go that well. for 2 reasons. 1: i did not do the best job at articulating what i meant about corporate social responsibility, and 2: he was focused on the money aspect of it all, meaning that he didn't think he had the resource so to put toward such efforts.
i realized the incredible importance of understanding your definitions. when i attended a conference for the Nonprofit Congress this very issue came up--that it can be hard to articulate what nonprofits do. and because of this, many people do not understand how nonprofits play an integral role in the fabric of our economy and society. there are many misperceptions about what a nonprofit is, what they do, what is expected of nonprofits, how they operate, etc. this is a liability for nonprofits, or anyone advocating for them. articulation is very important.
i am going to take the time to plug a book that i think is quite great. it relates to corporate responsibility, leaning more toward a environmental sustainability approach, but it's fascinating. it does a good job (in my opinion) of pointing out that corporate responsability is just plain good business. it makes sense for so many reasons, many which are touched upon in the book. not investing in your employees, not understanding your footprint in the environment, is really bad business--you can end up loosing valuable people and costing yourself waaaaay more money.
you can get it on amazon.
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