CB BureauSeveral millions reached, thousands benefitted, lives of hundreds changed… In most cases, the reports on corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes begin with bold, big numbers to showcase the ‘big’ impact made. For marketers, advertisers and sellers within the company, that works like a special tool. For the public relations and media management team, that makes for a good story peg; and for the associated non-government or a social group, these numbers are brownie points that will help them in bagging another project.
In this reach-and-numbers game, the CSR reports generally miss out on the real story of a real beneficiary. While your close colleagues could be more interested in metrics, all your stakeholders, especially the consumers, are already tired of this numbers game. These many votes, these many Facebook likes, the sums of rupees, the number of people, the number of days, the number of newsletters, the statistics of impact… think again, do you ‘as a consumer’ really care?
The real impact can be read only in the stories of those individuals whose lives really changed. Most of us will be more interested in knowing how a CSR effort of a company has brought hope, happiness, light and something to look forward to in an individual’s life. And the story will become more interesting if it is not you who write the story, but the beneficiary himself. Let the emotions and expressions flow from the heart of the one you helped”instead of your focused, if not biased, mind.
Of course, these stories will by themselves not complete your CSR report. You certainly need computed numbers to justify the return-on-investment. Yet, to justify these numbers you need these real stories. A difference made can really not be measured or computed in numbers, but can be seen, heard and felt in the story of a beneficiary.
The first thought that might come to your mind could be this: ‘We do not do social welfare or community-focused CSR programmes. We focus on environment, we focus on conservation of natural resources; our in-house programmes are focused on saving power and paper. So, where will these human-interest stories emerge from?’
Well, in such cases the beneficiary is nature itself and you obviously cannot get it to write a story from its heart; but doesn’t nature have its mouthpieces in the form of dedicated conservationists, determined individuals as well as organizations? How about asking them to write the story of your impact and include it in your CSR report? What glory would you celebrate with a best CSR practice trophy in hand, but somebody crying foul right behind your office?
Hence, inclusion, participation and collaboration of/with communities and their stories are the fundamentals of your CSR report; the numbers are just the selling, and to an extent ‘justifying’, tools.