Rafael Nunez Aponte: Social Commitment at Disney

Conservation Fund

The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest and most well-known corporations practicing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) all the way down the line in their business model. As the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, and aside from its constant “Imagineering”, Disney has a tremendous responsibility to give back to those who have helped it become the powerhouse that it is today.

CSR

Volunteerism is a major focus for Disney, offering free tickets to a million people in exchange for a day of volunteer service from an organization of their choice. This encouraged over one million people in the United States to commit to service efforts to volunteer in their communities.

Disney CSR

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, established on Earth Day in 1995, supports efforts of local and global non-profits who protect wildlife, ecosystems, and make a positive impact on the community. Since its inception, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has helped to support over $20 million in projects in over 112 countries.

The Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment team connects Walt Disney Parks and Resorts guests and cast members with animals, plants and nature and inspires them to positively impact the environment. Team members are responsible for animal care and health, science, and education programs at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, The Seas with Nemo & Friends and The Tri-Circle D Ranch at Walt Disney World Resort; Disney Cruise Line’s private island in The Bahamas Castaway Cay; and Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, in Ko Olina, Hawaii. The Animal Programs team participates in cooperative breeding programs with other zoological facilities at the other theme parks, and offers tours and education programs. 

What You Should Consider For Your CSR Campaign

CSR

A recent survey from insurer Aflac shows us the great importance and impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the younger generation of people –people who was born in the late 80’s. - Two-thirds of this generation surveyed said that they are likely to invest in a company well-known for its corporate social responsibility program, compared with less than half of adults over 34.

For brands and companies the message is more than clear: If you want to attract Generation Y, build a reputation for supporting social causes and initiatives.

Here we brought you 3 ways brands can build meaningful CSR programs that have a real impact on consumers:

CSR programs

Donating has to be really easy: you do not have idea about how powerful can be a social good campaign based around simple and little actions - sending a text message, for example. – There are donation apps such as The Red Cross'text-to-donate that was created after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which can be taken as a great reference of a good campaign.

You have to promote all the effort: brands, with their big advertising budgets, have a big opportunity to educate consumers about important causes and issues and the nonprofit organizations that are making a difference. The tip for businesses is to distinguish the cause area they are impacting, the charity with which they are collaborating, and the tangible, measurable impact that is being made.

See the concern and turn it into action: we normally see news stories that describe a problem or crisis. We feel compassion, but we have no idea on how to contribute to the solution. This is the moment that brands have a unique opportunity to connect with consumers.

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Learn How to Measure Corporate Social Responsibility

B Corp

There are some applications that measure the corporate social responsibility of companies. Some websites crowdsource opinions and facts on companies, while other sites use their own set of metrics to estimate social good. We show you below the tools that stand out among the rest, along with two issue-specific resources that can assist you with purchasing decisions:

B Corp

This tool created a ratings system in 2009 to measure the social and environmental impact of small to medium-sized companies. B Corp helps investors and consumers tell the difference between socially responsible companies and companies with great marketing. Certified B Corporations maintain an in-depth legal structure that expands corporate accountability so they are required to make decisions that are good for society, not just their shareholders, according to the non-profit's website.

JustMeans Insights

JustMeans Insights

JustMeans Insights helps investors, the media, practitioners and consumers measure a company's CSR, environmental impact and sustainability performance against its competitors. This toll provides the data visualization tools to compare these companies. They study the number of standards, dig through thousands of historical reports, and then pull all of that into a data visualization tool normalized to financials, employees, etc. The result is that anyone can then compare companies across industries, sectors, geographies along the same normalized metrics.

In addition to these applications, here are two issue-specific tools that can help you make purchasing decisions.

Eat Well Guide: the Eat Well Guide is an online directory of fresh, local, and sustainable food in the U.S. and Canada including farmers' markets, restaurants, grocery stores, family farms and more.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch: the MBAq sustainable seafood guide lists the most ocean-friendly seafood options by assessing fish populations in conjunction with fishing and fish-farming methods. You can use their online search tool, downloadable pocket guides, or mobile apps.

CSR

What do You Know about Social Commitment?

Is there any information about Social Responsibility you do not know today? This topic is more important than you may think and it is present in almost every committed company or individual with a deep sense and interest on social issues and needs.  

Social responsibility is an ethical framework which suggests that an entity - an organization or individual - has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems.

Social Responsibility

This responsibility can be:

·         Passive: by avoiding engaging in socially harmful acts

·         Active: by performing activities that directly advance social goals.

Business and companies. Businesses can use ethical decision making to secure their businesses by making decisions that allow for government agencies to minimize their involvement with the corporation. Equally, for example, if a company follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for emissions on dangerous pollutants and even goes an extra step to get involved in the community and address those concerns that the public might have, they would be less likely to have the EPA investigate them for environmental concerns.

CSR

Social responsibility as a non-binding, or soft law principle has received some normative status in relation to private and public corporations in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights developed by the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee particularly in relation to child and maternal welfare. The International Organization for Standardization will encourage voluntary commitment to social responsibility and will lead to common guidance on concepts, definitions and methods of evaluation. The standard describes itself as a guide for dialogue and language, not a constraining or certifiable management standard.

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.