Getting the CSR message through!

I am pleased to make you aware of a first Communication on Progress published by the great CSR news distribution company CSRwire, LLC - whom most of you probably know via the News Alert which promptly plops into your inbox every morning with the latest CSR news and interesting editorials (haha, disclosure, some of them are mine!) . Anyway, if this plop thing doesn't happen to you, I would strongly recommend you sign up and get the News Alert. Whilst you are doing so, check out the rest of the site and see how CSRwire can help you get greater exposure for your CSR news and get your CSR message through! 

Anyhow, I digress.

What I really wanted to do was congratulate CSRwire on the submission of a first COP to the UN Global Compact. (oops, time for another disclosure, I worked with CSRwire and helped develop this COP).  

As most of you may know, the UNGC is a voluntary policy framework established 10 years ago by the UN to help drive responsible business practices according to 10 core pinciples. Businesses who wish to participate willl send a signed commitment to the effect that they will uphold the principles, spread the word around and report annually on what they have been doing in this respect. Over 5,000 businesses accross the world have committed to support this framework. A Communication on Progress is usually a positive document which doesn't require full disclosure in the same way as a comprehensive Sustainability Reoprt type GRI does, but it can contain considerable information and is an excellent route to supporting accountability and developing a culture of  transparency.

Accountability and transparency is not new to CSRwire as they are a certified B Corporation, and have been practising responsible business practices since the very start of their operation in 1999. However, the  CSRwire COP is a very full document, the most transparent ever published by CSRwire, and describes their business mission, profile, history, responsible practices, targets for the future and most importantly, the most material element of the company's work, the way CSRwire delivers and distributes CSR news so that the CSR message gets through to an increasingly wider range of readers all over the globe including corporate practitioners, CSR professionals, non-profits, academics, students and opinion leaders. With over 5,600 members and 250,000 page views per month, and growing, this is a strong reach. 

Also important is the fact that CSRwire is an SME, a small business with 12 employees. Even a small business can do their stuff responsibly,  and actually, it is vitally important that small businesses do do their stuff responsibly. The UNGC route is a great framework for smaller businesses to start building their Sustainability Stamina and gain global recognition. SME's who read CSRwire's COP can gain inspiration and ideas for how they might follow suit. I hope many do. See it on the UNGC website here.

Anyway, rushing off now to a Chunky Monkey event. YEAH!

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)