Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a broad business concept. It usually describes a company's commitment to carry out its business in an ethical way.

This means managing your business while considering its social, economic and environmental impact, and respecting human rights.

Examples of corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility can affect almost every part of your business. It includes a wide range of activities, such as:

• environmental management, eg waste reduction and sustainability
• responsible sourcing, eg using only fair trade ingredients
• improvement of working standards and conditions
• contributing to educational and social programmes
• employee volunteering
• socially responsible investment
• development of employee and community relations

For more ways to make an impact, see CSR activity ideas for your business.

CSR and stakeholders

Your stakeholders are the people or groups interested in or affected by your business. CSR can help you make a positive impact on different groups of stakeholders, including:

• Customers - through fair practices and good customer service.
• Suppliers - by choosing responsible partners with good working and environmental standards. See more on ethical trading.
• Communities - through local support, charity work and volunteering. See corporate social responsibility: local community.
• Employees - by going beyond legal requirements and supporting wellbeing and development. See staff motivation and performance.

Reducing your environmental impact through different CSR initiatives, such as waste and resource management, can also greatly benefit your business. 

Importance of corporate social responsibility

CSR can help improve business performance, increase competitive advantage and build trust with customers and employees. It can also reduce costs by cutting waste and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Perhaps most importantly, CSR helps create a positive reputation for your business as ethical and responsible See more business benefits of corporate social responsibility.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has many advantages. These can apply to any business, regardless of its size or sector.

Benefits of corporate social investment for businesses

The potential benefits of CSR to companies include:

• better brand recognition
• positive business reputation
• increased sales and customer loyalty
• operational costs savings
• better financial performance
• greater ability to attract talent and retain staff
• organisational growth
• easier access to capital

Responsible business reputation

Corporate social investment can help build your reputation as a responsible business. This can, in turn, give you a competitive advantage. Many companies prefer to work with suppliers that follow responsible practices, as this affects how customers view them. Some customers don't just prefer to deal with responsible companies - they insist on it.

Costs savings

By reducing resource use, waste and emissions, you can help the environment and save money too. Simple steps can lower your energy bills and reduce business costs. See how to reduce your business waste to save money.

Finding and keeping talented staff

Being a responsible and sustainable business can help you attract talented employees. Good CSR practices can also improve job satisfaction, helping you retain staff and reduce recruitment costs.

Other benefits of CSR to companies

Acting responsibly can also help you:

• access finance, as investors are more likely to back a reputable business
• gain positive media attention, for example through community activities
• reduce regulatory pressure through good relationships with local authorities 
• identify new business opportunities, such as developing new products or services

For more information, see Business in the Community's guidance on being a responsible business. You can also explore CSR activity ideas for your business.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can refer to a wide range of actions that businesses may take - from supporting charities to ethical business practice. One key focus of CSR is reducing your impact on the environment.

What is environmental CSR?

Environmental CSR focuses on reducing the impact of your business on the environment. This may include:

• energy use
• water use
• waste management
• recycling
• emissions
• eco-friendly office and travel policies

Some of these actions can benefit both the environment and your business finances.

Advantages of environmental CSR

Green CSR can reduce business risk, improve reputation and provide opportunities for cost savings. Even small energy-saving steps can make a difference. For example:

• switching off lights and equipment when not in use
• reducing water use
• using less paper

Caring about the environment can increase revenue, too. Many customers prefer to buy from responsible businesses.

How to reduce your environmental impact

You can reduce your business' environmental impact in many ways. For example, you can:

• create products that can be recycled
• improve the life cycle of your products
• use responsible sourcing, eg recycled materials or sustainable timber
• reduce packaging
• buy locally to cut transport costs
• improve the efficiency of your distribution network
• work with environmentally responsible suppliers and distributors

For more ways to make an impact, see CSR activity ideas for your business.

Ethical trading focuses on protecting workers’ rights across the supply chain. By treating employees, suppliers and their workers fairly, you can show your commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR). 

What is ethical trade?

Ethical trade focuses on how your business buys goods and services. It includes the steps you take to make sure you and your suppliers respect workers' rights. The term ethical trading often implies socially responsible sourcing, which focuses on:

• worker welfare
• agricultural practice
• natural resource conservation
• sustainability

The Ethical Trading Initiative is a leading organisation that supports ethical trade in global supply chains.

Ethical trade and suppliers

Choosing your suppliers carefully is an important part of CSR. For example, using local suppliers can support your community and reduce the environmental impact of your sourcing, logistics and distribution practices.

When choosing suppliers, you should check their:

• employment practices
• health and safety procedures
• environmental policies

Customers are increasingly concerned about how supply chains affect people and the environment. Working with irresponsible suppliers can damage your reputation. Larger organisations often review their suppliers to make sure they meet responsible standards. You could do this too by asking them about their approach to CSR. You should also treat your suppliers fairly, particularly smaller businesses that rely on you. For example, paying on time can make a big difference to them.

Ethical trade and customers

Your customers want to know that your business treats people fairly. To build trust, you can:

• use clear, plain English and explain any key terms or conditions
• be open and honest about your products, services and CSR actions
• deal with problems quickly and take responsibility when things go wrong

In return, customers are more likely to trust you and stay loyal. Listening to feedback can also help you improve your products and services. For more ways to make an impact, see CSR activity ideas for your business.

Community engagement is an important part of CSR, along with how a business treats its employees, customers and the environment.
Businesses can support their local community in many ways. For example, they can:

• donate money to local charities
• sponsor local events
• organise clean-up activities
• volunteer in schools or community projects

For most businesses, it makes commercial sense to engage in community-based CSR related to their products or services. This lets you use your expertise and show the human face of your business at the same time. For example, restaurants may provide food to local charities, and builders may offer free labour for community projects. Look for opportunities that benefit both your business and your community, such as improving your local area.

Community and employee engagement

Many businesses include their employees in decisions about CSR activities. You can, for example:

• support charities that were chosen by your staff
• encourage staff to volunteer for community activities
• give staff paid time off for volunteering
• help employees to make tax-free donations to charity through 'payroll giving'

As well as improving community relations, involving your staff in CSR can help motivate them and encourage their personal and professional development.

Advantages of community involvement for business

Working with your local community can bring many benefits. For many businesses, local customers are an important source of sales. Showing commitment to your community can improve your reputation and make it easier for you to recruit or retain employees.

Good relationships with local authorities can also help. For example, some may prefer to award contracts to businesses with a record of community involvement. For more ways to make an impact, see CSR activity ideas for your business.

Many businesses find it hard to measure the impact of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Some benefits, such as customer loyalty and reputation, are difficult to measure, which makes it harder to assess their value. However, measuring CSR is important because it helps you: 

• show the value of your activities to customers and stakeholders 
• make better decisions about future CSR programmes
• align your activities with business goals, such as improving staff skills

By measuring the impact of your CSR, you can connect the value of your activities to your company's bottom line. For example, you can establish a link between skill development and lower training costs, employee satisfaction and lower turnover rate, and even growth in sales leads that increases revenue.

How to measure the impact of your CSR?

You can measure your CSR success in different ways. For example, you can: 

• compare your business with others - this is known as benchmarking
• seek recognition for CSR best practice - eg take part in responsible business awards or use measurement tools such as the BITC's Responsible Business Tracker
• use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your environmental performance - download a guide on environmental KPIs (PDF, 354K)

Keep in mind that these measures often show short-term results. The biggest benefit of CSR is usually the long-term improvement in your reputation.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can create positive public relations (PR) opportunities and good news stories. Make the most of your CSR activities by showing customers, suppliers and the local community the positive impact your business is making.

Role of PR in promoting your CSR

Promoting your CSR can help you win contracts, as many organisations prefer to work with responsible businesses. This is especially important when working with ethical companies, the public sector or not-for-profit organisations.

You should treat CSR as part of a long-term approach to building value. Everything you do should support your reputation and keep customers and stakeholders engaged. CSR should also be consistent across your business. For example, using recycled materials is not enough if you treat customers unfairly or ignore your community.

Business awards

You could enter business awards that recognise strong CSR performance. For example::

• International CSR Excellence Awards
• Global Good Awards
• Business in the Community's Responsible Business Awards

Quality standards

You could consider working towards a management standard which you can then use to promote your ethical, environmental or social responsibility. For example, many businesses have already achieved the ISO 14001 environmental management standard.

Socially responsible businesses act in an ethical and transparent way that contributes to the health and welfare of society. ISO 26000 provides guidance on how businesses can operate in a socially responsible way.

See more on quality management standards.

Effective CSR like this can give your business a competitive edge. Even with dozens of competitors, a real commitment to CSR lets your business stand out. 

When it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR), not every effort has the same potential to create a lasting impact. Your activities should be authentic, sincere, and aligned with your core business strategy. This helps you support your community while building trust, reputation and team spirit.

Here are some CSR activity ideas your business could consider.

1. Volunteering days

Give employees opportunities to volunteer together for a local charity or community group. This could include activities such as park clean-ups, helping at food banks or supporting local shelters.

2. Skills-based volunteering

Give employees opportunities to use their professional skills to support local schools, community centres or charities. This could include one-off activities or ongoing mentoring. For example, employees could teach skills such as reading, coding or financial literacy, or offer career advice, CV support and interview preparation.

3. Environmental initiatives

Plan eco-friendly activities such as tree planting, beach clean-ups, or urban gardening. You could also take part in local recycling drives or habitat restoration projects. Choose activities that support the environment while also encouraging teamwork.

4. Charity walk or run

Offer staff the chance to take part in charity walks, runs or bike rides. They can join as individuals or in teams. This is a simple way to support a good cause while promoting employee wellbeing.

5. Corporate blood drive

Partner with local blood banks to organise blood donation drives. You may want to offer incentives to encourage participation and create a sense of achievement.

6. Gift donation / wrapping for charity

During the holiday season, ask staff to donate gifts for charity. You could also set up a gift-wrapping station in a public place or shopping centre, with proceeds going to a chosen charity. Staff can volunteer to wrap gifts for shoppers.

7. Art for a cause

You could run creative workshops where employees make items to donate to charity. You could also organise an exhibition to display their work, with any sales proceeds going to a charitable cause.

8. Friendly competitions

You could run quizzes or trivia events where employees form teams and compete. You could also organise sports tournaments, such as football or golf, to raise money for local charities. Another option is a cooking or baking competition, with proceeds from entry fees or food sales donated to a local food bank.

9. Book or clothing drives

Organise book or clothing drives within your business. Employees can donate items they no longer need. You can then give these to local schools, libraries, shelters or charities that support people in need.

10. Community picnics

Hold picnics or outdoor events where employees can socialise with each other and the local community. You can include activities such as games, music and food stalls that support local businesses. You could also collect entry fees or donations and give these to a chosen charity.

Ultimately, choose CSR activities that align with your business goals and values. Involve employees and stakeholders in planning to build support and avoid superficial actions, such as greenwashing. Integrate CSR into your day-to-day business practices to make a real impact. Finally, remember to measure the results of your CSR activities and adjust your approach for long-term benefits.