My colleague told me that he was hearing that many companies were scaling back their CSR spending, and he took that to mean that CSR remained a “nice-to-have” in good times, and a “don’t need to have” in tougher times.

Little did my colleague or I know that, at the very moment we were talking, new research was going to show that the commitment of corporate leaders to social responsibility programs and initiatives was still strong.

Here are two sources of current research:

IBM Institute for Business Value 2009 CSR Study
(survey of 224 business leaders worldwide):

• 60% believe that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increased in importance over the past year
• Only 6% say it is a lower priority.

The State of Corporate Citizenship in the United States 2009

(Joint project of the Boston College Center and The Hitachi Foundation.

• Conducted by GlobeScan between June 4-June 23, 2009
• Survey queried 756 executives, 36% at small businesses (1-99 employees), 24% at medium (100-999) and 40% at large companies (1,000+)
• Despite upheaval in the economy, a majority of U.S. companies are not making major changes in their corporate citizenship practices. Of those who made changes 38% reduced philanthropy/giving, 27% increased layoffs, and 19% reduced R&D for sustainable products.
• Most U.S. senior executives believe business should be more involved than it is today in addressing major public issues including health care, product safety, education, and climate change.
• Reputation was cited by 70% as a driver for corporate citizenship, tied for the top spot with "it fits our company traditions and values."
• Based on current economic conditions, 15% of companies are increasing R&D for new sustainable products; 11% are increasing corporate citizenship marketing and communications; and 10% are increasing local and/or domestic sourcing or manufacturing.

I’ll add some anecdotal evidence that I obtained during two recent conferences.

At the Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit 2009 held in Chicago from Sept. 22–24, 2009, I asked three panelists whether their companies had cut back on SR spend this year, due to the economy or other factors. All three said the spend had not decreased, and one of the panelists, Beth Miller, a communications manager at Unilever Foodsolutions, stressed the importance of the company’s efforts in social responsibility for attracting and retaining quality employees, as well as satisfying customer concerns over the environment and natural resources.

That same message came through loud and clear in presentations held during the IABC Pacific Plains Region Exchange Conference, held Oct. 11-13 in Minneapolis, MN. Companies know that employee retention will be a critical strategic focus globally over the next decades. This current tight job market and belt-tightening by consumers will soon pass away. A company’s reputation and “report card” on social responsibility topics will be a competitive advantage to some, and a disadvantage to those who ignored it.

(cross-posted to the SR LINK website)

This podcast was recorded following a presentation by Lynn Patterson, director of corporate responsibility at RBC Financial Group, Ontario, Canada. Lynn’s presentation, “The Suite Spot: Transforming your corporate responsibility report into a communication suite,” included ideas for moving away from a focus on corporate responsibility reports so that communicators instead can provide a “suite” of communications tailored to key audiences across appropriate media.

Our discussion covered the reasons to move in the direction of CS communications suites, examples of how it is done at RBC, and the possibly surprising thought that CSR departments may one day disappear–but the work won’t.

The IABC World Conference has featured some terrific SR-related presentations. Come back to read and hear more as the conference continues.

(cross-posted on the SR LINK web site)