Rafael Nunez Aponte: Know These 3 Social Responsibility Campaigns

Social Responsibility is about giving back to the communities that keep your business in a good position, maybe even ones beyond your reach. Having a social commitment and good culture allow employees know they are working for something that good and with a high impact. Business becomes something far from dimensional and, more importantly, it cares about people. People want to do things that matter; companies that encourage employees to participate in volunteerism and giving back all efforts are creating fulfilling environments to work in.

Let’s see some of the best companies that have great campaigns on Social Responsibility.

One for One

1. Toms “One for one” motto is a very popular phrase. They have recently upped the ante by donating a part of their sunglass sales to vision care for children in need. However, this is not just consumers that are involved in this social action for good, there are also employees involved. Toms’ employees participate in an annual Shoe Drop where they travel and donate a variety of goods to children. Their careers page specifically calls for employees that want to change lives and be a part of a movement.

Social Responsibility

2. IBM truly believes in corporate citizenship. Their social good projects extend across issues and needs of the society. Employees volunteer in environmental efforts, community economic development, education, health, literacy, language and culture. Their volunteer initiative goes all year long; it is called the “Celebration of Service,” logged over 3,000,000 hours of service. IBM has also established “On Demand Community” enabling employees and retirees to find volunteer opportunities, through trainings and placement.

PG&E Earth Day

      3. PG&E works very well serving the communities of California. On Earth Day employees help clean and restore 18 state parks. They are members of Habitat for Humanity and volunteer by providing solar panels on new Habitat homes. Employee volunteerism hits inside the home as well by participating in various food programs providing those struggling to make ends meet with care packages and thousands of pounds of groceries.

Charity through 3 Campaigns in Social Media

Social Media can definitely be used for charity. The list below represents the campaigns that not only generated huge publicity for their respective causes, but were also highly creative and made effective use of tools such as stunts, social media tactics and viral videos.

1.      “I like it on…”

Breast Cancer Campaign 

In 2009, Breast Cancer Awareness launched their purely Facebook-based campaign where girls were invited to post the color of their bra as a Facebook status while confusing their male friends who were kept in the dark about what these colors meant. As the campaign was a huge success and gained coverage not only all over the world, but also in print media, Breast Cancer decided to repeat the success with another campaign the following year.

2.      UNICEF on Youtube

Swedish UNICEF ran a campaign to highlight that likes on Facebook were not enough to help them save children’s lives. To do this, they created four YouTube videos, including one of a child saying ironically that he feels hopeful because of the amount of likes UNICEF’s Facebook page has achieved.

Each video ended with the powerful message that likes cannot fund vaccinations. The videos were viewed more than750,000 times across 195 countries, and led to more than 10,500 tweets during the campaign period.

3.      Marriage Equality

Marriage equality

The Human Rights Campaign changed their logo to an equal sign last year as a vote was taking place in the Supreme Court over marriage equality.

The image of the equal sign on red background went viral as thousands of people all over Facebook changed their profile pictures to also show their support. The support of the campaign was so visible that it would have been impossible for ministers to ignore it.

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Protecting Animal’s Lives in Three Campaigns

According to the Humane Society of the United States six to eight million animals enter shelters in the U.S. each year with only three to four million adopted. Thousands of circuses use them under terrible and illegal conditions around the world. Many of our important environments in the Planet are being negatively affected by the extinction of several animal species every year. Are we doing something for them?

These three campaigns, however, stand out as the most creative and genius ways to find happy homes and possible future life for the thousands of animals in need, defend the lives of these beautiful species and promote their rights.

1.      The Shelter Pet Project

The Shelter Project

The Shelter Pet Project is the collaborative campaign between the Humane Society of the United States, Maddie’s Fund and the leading producer of public service advertisements, The Ad Council. The goal of this campaign is to make adopting a pet the first thing people think to do when they decide to bring an animal to their home. The Shelter Pet Project website allows people to easily search for shelters and adoptable pets in their area while learning about the plight of homeless animals.

2.      Animals are not clowns

Animals are not clowns

These advertisements illustrate to the viewer the cruelty behind circuses by placing them on an animal’s point of view and using elements such as tone, mood, and word-phrasing to discourage indifference against the suffering of animals.

3.      Horrifying vs. More Horrifying

Horrifying vs. More Horrifying

The mission of the World Wildlife Fund is to conserve the earth’s biodiversity by protecting its species and their habitats. By emphasizing that, all of earth’s organisms form a complex, interconnected web of habitats that provide its life support system, the campaign communicates that mankind cannot survive without a healthy, sustainable ecosystem.

The approach highlights the threat by taking something perceived as threatening and highlighting how much more threatening it would be if it did not exist. With three simple words and images it captures the essence of the danger.

Corporate Social Responsibility of Forever 21

CSR of Forever 21

Corporate Social Responsibility came into use in the early 1970’s after many corporations were formed. Corporate Social responsibly is a form of self-regulation performed by corporations. Most, if not all corporations, have a CSR program developed into their business model.

CSR programs are designed to ensure active compliances with the law, ethical standards and international norms, as well as the environment demands regarding energy and sustainability. The overall goal of a CSR program is to accept responsibility for any actions in which the company may take part in.

Just as a consumer has choices, at Forever 21, they take the business choices seriously, including in the way they obtain the products they sell. At Forever 21, they strive to have a positive impact not only within stores and corporate family, but also upon hundreds of vendor manufacturing facilities throughout the world.

For Forever 21 these choices as part of a work in progress and that there is always more to do:

·         Supplier and Vendor Social Compliance and Ethical Sourcing

Forever 21

Forever 21 wants all of its employees also to work in safe and healthy environments and to provide products to the consumer, which are made by such employees.

Therefore, its Corporate Social Responsibility program includes the Forever 21 Vendor Audit Program. While many of its vendors have worked with Forever 21 for a number of years and are trusted, all suppliers and vendors must provide factory contact information and all factories must participate in the audit program.

Rafael Eladio Nunez Aponte: Basic Approaches of Toyota for a Green World

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In March 2014 the multinational corporation consisted of 338,875 employees worldwide.

A Green Planet

Since its foundation, Toyota has been using its Guiding Principles to produce reliable vehicles and sustainable development of society by employing innovative and high quality products and services.

The Sixth Toyota Environmental Action Plan

Toyota

In formulating the plan, Toyota categorized the environmental activities according to the three priority themes of the Fifth Plan:This plan includes the activities to be implemented in FY2016–2020 in order to meet the six challenges in the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 are outlined in the Sixth Toyota Environmental Action Plan.

• Contribution to a low-carbon society,
• contribution to a recycling-based society,
• and environmental protection and contribution to a harmony with nature society.

Basic Approach to a Low Carbon Society

Improvement of the society

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its latest Fifth Assessment Report in installments between September 2013 and April 2014, covering scientific assessments, climate change-related impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and measures to mitigate climate change.

Toyota is taking action to reduce further global warming as a top priority management issue, and is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at all stages of the vehicle lifecycle, including development, design, production, logistics, and sales, as well as in all of Toyota’s business areas.

Reebok’s Corporate Citizenship

Reebok's Corporate Social Responsibility

Commitment to Corporate Responsibility is an important legacy and hallmark of the Reebok brand. Reebok's history of innovation and conscientiousness guides them when creating policies, programs and partnerships. Grounded in their brand values, they believe that they have the opportunity to achieve their full potential as a corporate citizen while striving to meet the expectations of their employees, stakeholders and consumers.

In all facets of corporate responsibility, they are committed to a responsive process of continual re-evaluation and improvement that allows them to adapt to changing circumstances.

Reebok's Corporate Citizenship platform is activated through Reebok4Real

Reebok 4 Real Human Rights Student Advocate Program

This Program is the extension of Reebok's history of commitment to Human Rights and is designed to inspire the activists of the future. The program's mission is to educate students to become knowledgeable human rights advocates and empowered members of their community.

The program partners high school students and Reebok employees to help make a difference in the world. In addition to learning about human rights issues, an important goal of the program is to help students gain important skills necessary to succeed in their future lives as contributing members of the community and the business world.

The Reebok Foundation

Reebok Headquarters in Canton, MA, USA

The Reebok Foundation was formed in 1986 to focus and expand on Reebok's commitment to socially responsible action. They have worked with more than 500 non-profit organizations.

As a crucial component of Reebok's Global Corporate Citizenship Platform, the Reebok Foundation focuses its philanthropy in communities where Reebok's offices are located. The Foundation strives to promote social and economic equality by funding non-profit organizations delivering programs aimed at inner-city youth and underserved groups to empower youth to fulfil their potential - programs that provide youth with the tools they need to lead healthy, happy and actives lives. 

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Environment and Sustainability in Nike, Inc.

Environment

Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is committed in the design, development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services.

The vision of the company is to help Nike, Inc. and its consumers thrive in a sustainable economy where people, profit and planet are in balance. To get there, the company is integrating sustainability principles and practices into everything they do: design; developing sustainable materials; rethinking processes; advocating for change in industry. To measure the progress, they set ambitious long-term targets and report on their performance.

Nike, Inc,

Environment Care. In Nike, Inc., they believe that the looming crises of climate change, water scarcity and quality, and other resource constraints are even greater long-term challenges than today's financial turmoil. Natural resources and ecosystem services have been undervalued, and the environmental impacts of business have been regarded as externalities. All this is changing and rightly coming into view as a priority for inclusion in the business planning of the company.

The Long Term. Environmental issues and considerations are the pressing business issues for both tomorrow and today. Taking environmental issues into account is critical for future financial success and for the long-term sustainability of the business. Doing this in a manner which does not compromise the performance of today's products and today's business results is the challenge of Nike, Inc.

The Social Commitment of Pick n Pay

In 1997, Raymond and Wendy Ackerman celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the founding of Pick n Pay. To commemorate the occasion and to honor the name of Raymond and Wendy Ackerman, as well as to ensure the ongoing philosophy of philanthropy, the Board of Directors of Pick n Pay Stores Limited resolved to set aside a substantial sum of money to create a fund for philanthropic purposes. The Ackerman Pick n Pay Foundation was duly established as a Corporate Foundation.

Corporate Social Responsibility

This company thinks in corporate social responsibility in every action they do. Some of the initiatives of Pick n Pay are:

·         Money Boxes

The Pick n Pay money box program is a corporate social investment program and was started in the stores of the foundation as a way to raise much needed funds for various charities. Their overall campaign message is “Your Change can Change Lives” and serves to encourage customers to drop their spare change into the money boxes fitted at the till points in store. The spare change is then collected regularly by the store manager and deposited into the money box fund which in turn pays out the funds raised to the charity organizations. Some of the organizations include the QuadPara Association on South Africa and the Sunflower Foundation.

·         QuadPara Association of South Africa

QuadPara Association of South Africa

The QuadPara Association strives to prevent spinal cord injury, as well as protect and promote the interests of people with mobility impairments by formulating a national policy and strategy, to develop and ensure the full potential and quality of their lives.

·         Sunflower Fund

The Sunflower Fund was formed in 1999 in support of the SABMR and was inspired by Chris Corlett and Darren Serebro’s heroic struggle against leukemia. It was formed by parents whose children had contracted leukemia, and, in some cases, had lost their battle against it. Their aim was to secure financial support in order to increase the number of bone marrow stem cell donors in South Africa. 

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Herbalife Responses to the Communities

Herbalife International Company is an American multinational multi-level marketing corporation that develops markets and sells nutrition supplements, offers weight management, gives sports nutrition and also provide personal-care products. The company was founded by the entrepreneur Mark Hughes in 1980, and it employs around 7,400 people worldwide.

Herbalife

Herbalife does what is right, honest and ethical. These values guide the company from the way they do their business, to their commitment to their communities and how they treat their employees and Independent Associates.

Hetbalife's Social Responsability

Social Responsibility of Herbalife International Company in Ten Principles:

• Comply: with national and international laws and regulations.
• Propose: plans, strategies and actions to achieve business results, social and environmental sought to compromise.
• Respect: human rights, especially the rights of children, and seeking gender equality and inclusion of minority and vulnerable groups.
• Preserve: the quality of products to fulfill their vision and protecting the environment in their operations.
• Strengthen: the presence in the communities where the company operates and where its employees live and work, staying in a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement.
• Simplify: Herbalife for the family to be part of creating sustainable value in a clear, fluent and open manner.
• Communicate: its actions in the three areas of sustainability; economic, social and environmental.
• Run: concrete actions that aim the welfare of Herbalife and society.
• Live: its vision, mission and values.
• Encourage: its Associates, collaborators, suppliers, end customers, competitors and all the other stakeholders to be part of this sustainable vision.

BetCRIS Foundation: Sport and Social Commitment

BetCRIS

BetCRIS Foundation is a nonprofit organization sponsored by BetCRIS Venezuela. It was formally created on September 8, 2008, as the materialization of an initiative that was developed in many years as the organization BetCRIS consolidated in the Venezuelan market. Thus, they have a greater chance to support and benefit different communities for their development.

From the directive staff, BetCRIS is committed to expand its contribution horizons to every place in which the organization is present, the BetCRIS Foundation also have a positive impact wherever it is

Some of the allies of BetCRIS Foundation are:

• Catia Soccer Club
• Cristo Te Ama Soccer School
• Guerreros de Dios Basket School

Catia Soccer Club

The BetCRIS Foundation is present in the Libertador municipality, specifically in the Brisas de Propatria sector, Sucre Distric. The Club Santa Cruz has educated children and adolescents over 47 years in sport terms, in different categories in the football field. Its main objective is the development of sport among children and adolescents, to promote healthy living values, solidarity, integrity and partnership to achieve its objectives.

Cristo Te Ama Soccer School

In 2012 BetCRIS initiated a partnership with the soccer team belonging to the Civil Association Center Cultural and Sports “Cristo Te Ama”, directed by Alvaro Garcia. It does its sports activities in Zona Rental and in the region of Barlovento. This team has participated in different championships in the Capital District and Miranda State. 

“Guerreros de Dios” Basketball School

The cooperation with the “Guerreros de Dios” Basketball School, located in the San Bernardino area, began in 2012. This school, founded in 2008, has Semillita, Mini Basketball, Children, Cadets, Youth and Free categories. It serves children from five years. It has three coaches with Erick Lovera as the President of the School. The BetCRIS Foundation has contributed to the provision of sports equipment, uniforms and, since January 2013, a monthly financial contribution.

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Social Responsibility of Child & Family Service

Child & Family Service is partner with Hawaii’s families to help them address serious life issues, with life-changing results. In this service, people believe that positive change can happen. They help families move from the impossible, to the possible, to new possibilities. Child & Family Service is known for:

Kids

• Helping those that are most vulnerable
• Embracing the total family
• Respecting people for who they are and where they are
• Touching over 40,000 lives every year

Child & Family Service (CFS) is one of Hawaii’s largest nonprofit organizations and touches the lives of more than 40,000 people each year. CFS helps families to address serious life issues, with life-changing results. CFS has been part of the community for more than 115 years and is a family-centered, full-service organization with more than 35 programs statewide. Some of their programs are:

Child & Family Service        

Community Based Residential

The program’s philosophy is to expect, challenge, and empower young ladies and help them to address mental health, emotional and behavioral issues. Counseling for and with their families is also provided.

Neighborhood Place of Wailuku

The Neighborhood Place of Wailuku is a family center located in the neighborhood of Wailuku, Maui. The program provides a full range of services based on the native Hawaiian culture for keiki to kupuna.

Maui Sexual Assault Center:

Work Team

Crisis Intervention, Counseling and Community Education. Adult and child survivors of sexual abuse and their families are offered crisis intervention, trauma care, and clinical counseling through crisis hotline or in person.

Employment Services for Refugees:

Gainful employment is the key to refugees successfully establishing themselves in the U.S. This program offers job preparation, counseling and job placement services with the goal of gainful employment and self-sufficiency.

Social Programs of DIRECTV

DIRECTV is a company that provides a premium television experience through the acquisition, production and distribution of unique and exclusive content, excellence in customer service, and continuous deployment of latest technologies for television entertainment.

DIRECTV uses technology, service, brand and especially its people to create a social change in underserved areas of the region with the purpose of enriching a future generation of DIRECTV customers, employees and, especially, communities. In this manner, the company generates a positive change in the region where they belong.

Some of the programs of Social Responsibility of DIRECTV are:

Escuela+ Program

Escuela+ Program

Escuela+ aims primarily to collaborate, complement and enrich the educational content for primary and secondary education, using DIRECTV technology and educational content from its partners.

Piedra Papel Tijera Program

Piedra Papel Tijera is a corporate volunteer program of DIRECTV that began in 2009 and continues to expand with the help of many volunteers. This program identifies and solves problems in Latin American communities, transforming schools, orphanages, homes and improving quality of life.

Eco DIRECTV Program

Eco DIRECTV Program

Eco DIRECTV is intended to provide a correct and environmentally responsible action way to work. The company implements this important cause through educational recycling programs for employees, collection of recyclables at offices and donations efforts with non-profit entities. 

For example, in order to continue working with the environment, DIRECTV installed solar panels in the California Transmission Center, specifically located in Long Beach. This initiative launched by DIRECTV US, along with DIRECTV Latin America and SolarCity, aims to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and save thousands of liters of water.