Making the Business Case for CSR

This special Master Class edition of Meaningful Impact features CSR pro Tiffany Payne, who shares candidly how to make the business case for CSR, using Comcast's Project UP as the real-world example. Tiffany reveals how to position social impact initiatives as ‘mission-aligned investments with a long-term strategic return’, which can yield: expansion into previously under-served markets, first-mover advantage, and products with broader appeal that lead to mainstream competitive advantage. Tiffany also offers insights on how to highlight: the skills and leadership training yielded by corporate-sponsored volunteerism, the recruiting and retention benefits of a purpose-driven corporate culture, and the dividend of strategic philanthropy. Tiffany also addresses the difference between community relations vs. community investment. She explains how community investment fosters goodwill among policymakers and how the CSR halo effect yields benefit-of-the-doubt if a PR crisis were to occur.