Building Our Body of CR Knowledge

Note: This guest blog is provided by CR Magazine and the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association. The Center for Values-Driven Leadership is a member of the CROA and actively supports its initiatives. 


What makes a corporate responsibility (CR) program successful? Do an organization’s structure, staffing, budget impact success in achieving goals? What’s the effect of executive engagement in CR?

These are just a few of the questions CR Magazine and NYSE-Euronext have sought to answer over the past couple of years of research into CR practices. Thanks to strong response from the CR community, we’ve learned a few things about the state of corporate citizenship:

• Formal CR programs and lead CR roles are on the rise in organizations of all sizes and types: 72% of respondents have formal programs and 62% have lead CR roles. 

• Dedicated budgets also are on the rise, and people say those budgets are rising: 60% have dedicated CR budgets, and 91% say those budgets have risen or stayed the same over the past two years. 

• CEO valuation of CR is increasing: 86% of respondents say their CEOs believe CR is important; 72% of CEOs meet with CR leaders at least quarterly. 

• Executive-level support for CR continues to grow: 66% of CEOs, and 34% of Boards, have driven a CR-related initiative in the past year. 

• CR programs are expanding: 77% respondents say their CR programs will expand over the next three years through addressing more topics, increasing budget and staff. 

As we launch our research effort for 2012, we are expanding our question set to understand how these issues impact program outcomes. This year, we’ve added inputs on perceived success and achievement, which will enable us to provide even greater detail on what works … and what doesn’t

Provide your input and we’ll send you the executive summary of our research findings.

In addition to sharing the executive summary with survey participants, we’ll publish the results in CR Magazine and present findings at a variety of events including Commit!Forum 2012 October 2-3 in New York City.

Click here to participate in the survey.

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Read the CVDL's coverage of last year's CommitForum!, hosted by the CROA:

• Reporting Roundup: What CSR experts had to say about the state of reporting, leading indicators, and the value of assurance. 
• How Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Helped Bring Food Security to Their Growers
• Leaving a Positive Beer Print Behind
• One World Trade Center Builds with Green Concrete