Corporate Social Responsibility: Not Just a Trend

Conscious PR is Born 

Through a client I worked with in the fourth year of running my Public Relations business, I began networking with other “conscious” people whose companies operated for the good of people or the planet. I was hooked. I was growing my yoga and meditation practices and reading a lot of self-help books at the time, so my childhood values of caring for others and saving the planet were reawakened.

At the end of that year, the phrase “Conscious PR” popped into my head. Months later, I launched the brand to test the market and attracted amazing clients, ones I resonated with personally. I knew I was on the right track. CSR runs through our DNA through our Cultural Manifesto, the types of clients we work with, the people I bring onto my team, and how we treat each other. 

At the beginning of 2015, I was intuitively called to pursue B Corporation® Certification, which I had learned about at the time of our re-brand. We received our certification in May 2016, becoming the fourth PR firm in Canada to achieve it. Because of B Corporation’s rigorous standards, when you are certified, you’ve already made leaps to becoming socially responsible.  

What is CSR?

So back to CSR. What does it mean? I like this definition spelled out by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development: "Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large."

I like that the definition highlights economic prosperity, people, community, and society. I also like to add in the planet, because without a healthy planet, we can’t care for ourselves. If companies don’t take steps to be proactively responsible, when things go wrong and cause harm to people or communities, that’s when a Public Relations crisis ensues. That’s why PR is linked so closely to CSR.

Company executives must address concerns for social or charitable initiatives if they want to attract and keep good employees in the future. The 2017 Deloitte Millennial survey says that 9 in 10 millennials believe that business success should be measured in more terms than just financial performance.(1) 

Sandra Nomoto is the CEO of Conscious Public Relations Inc., the fourth PR firm in Canada to achieve B Corp certification. Conscious PR Inc. is a member LOCO BC, eWomenNetwork, and the Board of Change, and Sandra is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, and an aspiring vegan.