With the mandatory 2% CSR spend coming into effect this year in India under the New Companies Act many organizations continue to decipher the implications of their community effort. While the government is doing their bit by providing FAQs and guidelines, organizations that are keen to conduct consistent community work need to have a definite CSR policy. With a clear policy, any community champion or a communication professional supporting or directing initiatives is in a better spot to provide oversight and manage outreach effectively.
I am sharing a few recommendations to factor while crafting a suitable policy and framework.
- Know your limitations: While a policy can define and outline your agenda it can’t help you succeed unless you have covered your bases with people and resources. The will to make a difference to the community and an inclusive culture are crucial for the success of any corporate social responsibility policy. Calling out the limitations of the policy is as important as identifying the goals and outcomes. For example, with your organization based in one location it may not make sense to conduct programs where your employees can’t access the beneficiaries.
- Give space and flexibility: The office bearers in the committee or trust will need to be given the autonomy to make the most of the projects and funds. Therefore, a corporate social responsibility project must include opportunities for clear decision making and provide accountability to the leaders. While the policy can determine the process for due diligence it can’t be very people dependent since you can expect rotation of roles and internal movements.
- Consider all audiences: An inclusive policy will take into account all audiences – involved, impacted and inspired by your company’s community outreach. If your organization has a focus on education, the policy needs to consider not just the students who will be the beneficiaries of your work but also teachers, principals, support staff, parents and academicians among others. That way your policy has a wider reach and makes a holistic impact on the communities.
- Project into the future: A clear policy will think many years into the future and not just focus on short term goals. You will need to account for potential opportunities based on trends shaping the world of philanthropy and yet not make the charter vague and inconsistent. You need to think of how the projects will land, who will support, who will lead and what the parameters to keep projects consistent are. It can also consider aspects of approvals of projects and how can employees’ volunteers on the projects available.
- Involve the community partners: While crafting the policy you need to ensure your community partners internally also get a chance to review and share viewpoints. Especially, if the corporate social responsibility programs is ground-up and led by employees. Host the policy in a beta mode on your intranet and invite reviews from employees. Hopefully, you will cover most bases and get to a great spot before going live.
There is no policy that can serve as a ready template for other organizations to replicate – the context, plans and needs vary with the local environment and the overall strategy of the community team. However, my getting some of these essentials in place you are probably a few steps forward with making a tangible impact with your corporate social responsibility work.
