.

Also underway are the 2012 NRG Games, a five-week competition that challenges students to reduce their residence halls’ electricity consumption.

“This kind of event reflects BC’s long term commitment to encourage personal responsibility for energy use and conservation among students, faculty and staff,” said Energy Manager John MacDonald, “and also highlights Facilities Services’ continued goal of reducing the growing energy and electrical costs that impact the cost of overall operations.”

When it comes to energy and the environment we’re proud to say we don’t just walk the talk at Boston College – we march it!

The key to this successful innovation, according to Joseph Suarez, Executive Advisor, Community Partnerships & Philanthropy, is to trade on Booz Allen’s intellectual capital and to do what they do naturally as consultants – identify problem areas and then leverage intellectual capacity to address those challenges. Suarez calls intellectual capital the “sweet spot of Booz Allen.”

JOSEPH SUAREZ

Suarez reports that a critical ingredient is to “not have the hubris of thinking that we know all the answers.”  Booz Allen partners with nonprofit organizations to make this speaker series a success. Partners such as the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the Catalogue for Philanthropy – Greater Washington “have their boots on the ground and know firsthand the challenges and needs facing the nonprofit sector.” Nonprofit partners provide invaluable feedback and insight, Suarez notes.

The speaker series targets a special niche of small to mid-size nonprofit organizations with budgets generally less than $3 million that provide vital services to the community such as homeless shelters, local meals and crisis centers. Booz Allen provides these essential nonprofits with professional development training, fundraising, and marketing techniques that can be implemented within their organization. The Booz Allen conference series offers expertise in areas such as forming effective boards, marketing strategies, fundraising techniques, and volunteering that will help them be more successful in their fundraising and marketing efforts – as well as weather the current economic challenges.

Booz Allen reports that leveraging its natural resources within the company and the assets that the employees bring is far more impactful than “just writing a check.” There is also an opportunity for Booz Allen employees to become personally involved as “skills-based volunteers.” A nonprofit that is in the Booz Allen Cares system can post skills-based volunteer opportunities in the employee engagement system to be matched with a volunteer. Recently, two analysts with expertise in business investments were paired with a nonprofit that needed expert advice on their office and residential housing locations.

Suarez says that “we know from participant feedback that we are creating a change and having an impact on the nonprofit organizations that attend our programs.” In fact, the feedback from nonprofits, according to Suarez, “is incredibly positive and with many coming back and telling us how they used the information they learned to increase their fundraising performance or engage board members.” There is visible evidence of the program’s success on area nonprofits as they leave the program with valuable tools to be more financially resourceful. Over the years there has been an increase in attendance at the speaker series and an increase in board members joining area nonprofits.

Another sign of measurable success is the lack of difficulty in getting top flight speakers because this program has become so well known. “Nonprofit experts request to speak at these seminars,” says Suarez. Booz Allen and the working committee screen its speakers to ensure each lecturer can provide real and practical examples that those attending can take back and test within their organization. Based on the success of this program in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Booz Allen hopes to eventually expand this program to other metropolitan areas.

Booz Allen’s willingness to tap into its “sweet spot” has generated sweet success for Washington, D.C. nonprofits.

Sustainability reporting is increasing at a fast pace here in the United States. Since the Global Reporting Initiative was launched in 1997, the number of reporting organizations in our country has increased tenfold. It’s true that multinationals reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in the U.S. lag behind our global counterparts. However, it’s encouraging to see an increase in reporting uptake – not just because this allows stakeholders to better understand corporate impacts, but also because reporting in its best form should be a tool that aids strategy development, target setting, and business management.

Since the early days when standards were first created to guide corporations’ communication of ESG impacts and issues, the details, mediums, and audiences for sustainability reports have changed. What started out as backward-looking accountability statements primarily covering environmental impacts and corporate philanthropy, has evolved into robust corporate evaluations of material impacts – which are now vetted through stakeholder bodies and include a balanced account of progress, challenges, and forward-looking and aspirational targets (in their best form).

Timberland has been experimenting with different mediums for some time. We issued our first CSR report back in 2000 – a short, printed document focused on community service, employee engagement, and overview information about our social and environmental programs. Fast forward to 2007 when we released our 2006 CSR report – our last annual, printed “accountability statement.” In today’s era of increasing information and stakeholder requests, I’m often asked “who’s reading these reports, and what are they accomplishing?” One could argue that our 19-page report in 2000 was accessible, easy to understand, and inclusive of many stakeholder interests (although light on data by today’s standards). By comparison, our 2006 report (which was 180 pages long and won several awards for best-in-class disclosure) was full of possibly too much information for different audiences to easily access what they had specific interest in.

There’s continued debate about whether or not a single sustainability report can satisfy the needs of multiple stakeholders – that is, employees, NGOs, issue experts, critics, partners, peer companies, investors, analysts, consumers, communities, workers, media, governments … the list goes on!  Different stakeholders have different interests in EGS data, programs, and strategies. Being accountable to all of these stakeholders requires engagement, partnership, and dialogue – much more than simply producing a report. Yet the reporting process can inform these audiences, and I encourage companies to start by determining which groups are core to their business success. Target your reporting approach for these key groups, and ensure others can easily find information so they aren’t left out.

So how does a company balance the need for more information, while also maintaining credibility and relevance? At Timberland, we’ve continued our experimentation with different reporting formats. Our evolving reporting and communication approach reflects an evolving and improved sustainability strategy for managing risk, creating value and increasing consumer relevance – components that are necessary for our entire business model to succeed.

Whether you are a first-time reporter or have been at it for years, here are my top five tips for effectively leveraging reporting as a management and communication tool:

1. Ensure your report reflects material impacts – The GRI advises that “the information in a report should cover topics and indicators that reflect the organization’s significant economic, environmental, and social impacts, or that would substantively influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders.” A credible report should cover such impacts, and by engaging stakeholders in a materiality assessment process, you can prioritize resources and reporting topics. Ford Motor Company has been producing an excellent Materiality Matrix for years.
2. Consider different stakeholders’ entry points and interests – Different stakeholder groups read reports for different reasons. A detailed data set may appeal to a socially responsible investor, whereas a story about your program in action could be more relevant to an issue expert looking to understand supply chain management practices. Timberland issued our 2007-8 CSR report as a “suite” of communication tools – including a summary report (only 30 pages!), detailed “Dig Deeper” papers for those looking for more details, an online forum to engage stakeholders in dialogue on key issues, and a consumer-facing brochure.
3. Tell the good and the bad – In today’s globalized society, if you’re not telling your own story in a truthful, credible, and engaging manner, others will simply tell it for you – and sometimes inaccurately! And yes, even if you are the most transparent company in the world, this still happens. But being open, honest and engaging can put you ahead of the curve when it comes to stakeholder engagement, campaigns, and trust-building. Dell has an open report, including discussion of tough issues such as eliminating hazardous chemicals.
4. Make it engaging – This will help attract different types of stakeholders, too. Timberland’s new Responsibility website (shown above) aims to do just that. The site is much more than a report; it’s a comprehensive and interactive hub for all information about Timberland’s social and environmental activities. Viewers can read Featured Stories about topics such as our sustainable store design, work with tanneries to reduce their environmental impacts, efforts to empower factory workers, and community greening. It’s important to consider the best ways to reach targeted stakeholder audiences – as a footwear company, consumers are key and that’s why these stories are written in a news-editorial style and linked to CSR Stakeholder Calls, Voices of Challenge dialogue, blog and social media.
5. A report is not the means to an end – Use the reporting process to build increased accountability for sustainability issues within your organization. Reporting efforts should be aimed at both internal and external audiences. And don’t forget to engage and share results with your own business units and internal leaders. It’s critical to build buy-in and ownership of ESG issues in order to successfully integrate sustainability into your business model.

Center member UPS was in the news spotlight this week as NPR Marketplace highlighted the company’s environmental efforts and introduced listeners to Chief Sustainability Officer Scott Wicker in a story titled “Brown goes green”.

The piece looks at how Wicker is working to – among other things – increase fuel efficiency at UPS through better driving and introducing hundreds of new hybrid electric vehicles to the fleet. NPR’s Eve Troeh reports on how Wicker came to his new role and where he and UPS are headed.

“He worked his way up through the engineering department. That’s where UPS has always handled environmental compliance. But Wicker’s new job goes well beyond just following the law. In making the new CSO position, the company’s asked him to push boundaries, pollute less and get greener without losing money.”

The story also touches on how corporate sustainability officer is a new role that many companies are still figuring out and that involves more than saving the company money. Troeh reports that now that “sustainability is embedded in company structure” at UPS, figuring out what standards the company must meet and what goals UPS should reach for are part of the corporate mission.

We’re wishing Wicker and UPS success as they continue working to demonstrate what Brown can do for you and the environment.

Mass Mutual immediately solicited volunteers from its employee base to help with the disaster recovery and cleanup. They also provided interpreters to assist local non-English speaking families in completing applications for aid. Although the Community Rebuilding Fair was originally an opportunity for MassMutual to offer LifeBridge^SM, its free life insurance program to the public, the fair soon took on a life of its own.

The Community Rebuilding Fair grew into something very substantial that could significantly help the residents of their community on many levels. Fair participants were able to meet with legal, insurance, financial, housing, zoning, career, and construction and sustainability experts to ask questions and obtain assistance. A parenting coach was even provided to help answer any lingering questions children may have had about the disaster.

To coordinate this major undertaking, Mass Mutual first partnered with the United Way of Pioneer Valley to identify local agencies that were already offering assistance to affected families. Using a list of 10 agencies provided by the United Way, MassMutual sent emails inviting them to an informal meeting at its home office headquarters. The City of Springfield Office of Housing also participated. According to Tom Fiske, Program Specialist, “a spirit of collaboration and synergy was formed” at the meeting and “we took on more of a coordinating role.” As a result, MassMutual developed a press release and project plan and solicited feedback from the group. Ultimately, 30 agencies and city departments participated in this highly effective Community Rebuilding Fair.

The success of this collaboration was due in large part to the efforts of many MassMutual employees and departments. In addition to the entire Community Responsibility team, associates from other departments created fliers and promotional materials and promoted the event through their social media platform. Other departments at MassMutual  helped with the necessary but less glamorous “nuts and bolts” such as setting up the chairs and tables and overseeing the staging and sound systems that were brought in specifically for the fair.

MassMutual Chairman, President & CEO Roger Crandall also offered remarks and presented a $1.6 million contribution in recognition of MassMutual’s 160^th anniversary this year to assist in the rebuilding effort. MassMutual’s commitment to the Community Rebuilding Fair was apparent at every level.

Feedback from participating agencies was extremely positive. Many agencies reported back to MassMutual that they were pleased with the number of attendees who stopped by their booths and mentioned that it was a great networking opportunity between the agencies. Moreover, Fiske noted, information sharing among agencies allowed new resources to be provided to their respective constituents.

Since 1995, the Center for Corporate Citizenship has surveyed community involvement practitioners about their companies’ community involvement, their internal support, programming resources and policies, and critical social issues that draw corporate attention.  The findings are detailed in the Center’s Community Involvement Index. This year, 490 companies participated in the survey.

Some key findings include:

• 86 percent of companies have a specific community involvement strategy, and among those who do, 67 percent link their community involvement strategy to a broader corporate citizenship strategy.
• 59 percent of companies are organized to manage community involvement with strategy and direction that is set centrally but executed locally.
• The majority of respondents’ companies formally measure the output of their philanthropic efforts (59 percent), volunteer programs (60 percent), and overall community involvement strategy (53 percent), but less than a third measure the outcomes of any of those investments.
• Education was by far the issue most frequently cited (75 percent) by respondents as a critical issue for their community involvement.

More member resources from the CI Index

To further expand on the knowledge provided by the Community Involvement Index, Center members are invited to participate in online Member Community discussions related to the topics covered by the survey, such as the best way to get senior management involved. These discussions will be ongoing so members together can build on what they learn from our research.

In addition to the information contained in the report, Center members have access to our archived webinar, “Taking stock of how community initiatives compare”.  This webinar highlights key findings with two member speakers:  Bridget G. Hurd, director, Community Responsibility, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; and Joyce Witte, community investment adviser, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.

Member Services can upon request create customized reports on specific areas of interest or industries from the data in the report. More print copies of the report are available to members on request to help you provide an informed perspective at all levels and in all departments within your company on community involvement. The survey reveals that the wide majority of respondents find senior management involvement contributes to the success of community involvement programs.

The Community Involvement Index is one of four biennial signature research surveys conducted by the Center for Corporate Citizenship. The other three surveys are: The State of Corporate Citizenship, The Profile of the Practice, and The Profile of the Profession.

We recognize that your job is hard. It is difficult to make decisions about how to invest limited dollars. You are often behind the scenes absorbing many points of view from colleagues and others, making sure that your cause partners and executive leaders connect successfully, while managing issues on “both sides of the aisle.” You also have to say “no” to many worthy causes –an unenviable task.  For all of those trials and for the good results that come from them, thank you.

Giving USA estimated that total dollars given by corporations in 2010 exceeded $15 billion (about 4 to 5 percent of all gifts given in the U.S. each year) and the Chronicle for Philanthropy estimates that corporate giving will stay level in 2011.  Charity Navigator recently invited donors and charities to take part in a survey about year-end giving trends for 2011.  The survey was completed by 565 donors and 101 charities. Charities responding to this survey noted that they receive 41percent of their annual contributions in the last few weeks of the year. That is a huge proportion (and a potentially huge vulnerability and source of stress) if you are in a nonprofit trying to manage an annual budget.

The Charity Navigator survey also asked both the donors and the charities how important they considered various issues to be in considering which charity to support. There were some interesting differences between the perceptions of donors and charities. Donors and charities are mostly aligned on the importance of a charity’s financial health and effectiveness at achieving their missions. When questioned about the importance of a charity’s accountability and transparency (this includes ethics, good governance, disclosure practices), the majority of donors (87 percent) indicated that this issue is very important to them. In contrast, fewer of the charities (73 percent) believed donors considered their accountability and transparency important when considering whether or not to make a donation. The study also showed that donors are very concerned about nonprofit executive compensation.   Fifty-six percent of donors rated this as important when selecting a charity to support. Charities’ didn’t anticipate this as an important issue for their donors, with only 12 percent identifying it as such. Similarly, Guidestar’s “Money for Good” study released in November of this year notes that all donors, despite different motivations for giving, identify effectiveness and impact data as the areas where users say the information is important and is not meeting their needs.

Donors were asked if they planned to give at year-end. More than 90 percent indicated that they do plan to give in this quarter – about the same percentage as in 2010. Most will give about the same amount. Some will give more and some will give less. Thankfully, this matches closely the charities’ expectations of what they will receive.

The season of giving is driven, in large part, by empathy. This study made me think that we might benefit from extending that impulse not only to those in need, but also to those who work alongside us to serve those in need. At year-end, when the pervasive messages of the holiday season remind us to be thankful for what we have and to remember those who are less fortunate, and with the recession putting more pressure on many nonprofit organizations (and their corporate partners) to serve more people in need with even more constrained resources, it would be a shame to have potentially effective partnerships derailed by misunderstanding or misalignment of partner priorities.

The Charity Navigator study presents a terrific opportunity to initiate a conversation with nonprofit partners who you value, but who might not understand the pressures that corporate giving professionals can encounter when advocating support for specific charities. Appreciating others’ perspectives is the first step toward being able to meet others’ expectations. We all have time constraints and want to make most efficient use of our time together to achieve work goals. Securing the needs of the partnership only helps to create a stable base for serving your philanthropic mission more effectively.

Having a hard time justifying time out of the office to have a conversation about your partnership? Think of it as an investment. A recent study from the Academy of Marketing Studies shows that in order to realize fully the brand equity that can come with longstanding sponsorships and philanthropy, the relationships need to illustrate both a compatible partnership between brand and cause and a long-term commitment. Spending time not only on the needs of the people you serve, but also on your partners’ needs can lead to even more stability and better outcomes for the recipients of your philanthropy that can benefit all of us. So have a friendly holiday lunch, or make it a New Year’s resolution to invest in your partnership. It will only give us more to thank you for.

• Get grounded in principals of good corporate citizenship
• Learn from what other firms are doing to create well integrated and strategic approaches to corporate citizenship management
• Leave with management tools that will help you better assess the stakeholders and issues that are material to your business
• Connect – and share insights and learning – with managers from other companies who are wrestling with similar corporate citizenship management challenges
• Improve your ability to secure buy-in and engagement from executives and others inside the company who are critical to your success

Visit our website now to learn more about how the Institute on Corporate Citizenship can make you more effective in your role. Register by Dec. 21 for a special rate at the Conrad Miami hotel where the Institute is being held.

The Institute on Corporate Citizenship is one step toward earning a Certificate in Corporate Community Involvement Management. For more information on the Institute or our certificate program, email Karen O’Malley or call 517-552-1553.

The conference host was Womenetics, a fledgling but fast growing media platform providing women with “an ongoing and expanding source of the essential tools and knowledge necessary to boost business success.” Its 40,000-plus online members are an impressive list of influential women leaders and advocates representing a panoply of business, government, and community sectors around the world.  These are women who know that a Millennium Goal has nothing to do with Han Solo’s starship, and that CGI is more than an animation technology popularized by Pixar.  A panel earlier in the day’s conference, “Globalization and the Business of Women: The Path to Prosperity and Peace” was illustrative of the heady mission and membership of Womenetics, featuring the president of Feminomics, Inc., the founder of Women Without Borders, and moderated by a senior adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative (natch).

This being my first personal interaction with women of Womenetics (JMV’s ambassador Naomi Tutu had represented us earlier this year at their Atlanta conference), I paid close attention to the tenor, tone, and topics addressed by my preceding (fellow?) panelists. Loads of empirical – and unexpectedly unemotional – evidence was shared on the proven benefits of empowering women in developed nations, and through investing in women of underdeveloped ones.  “It is so obvious,” said Astrid Pregal of Feminetics, Inc.  “All of the data is there . . . we just need to start using it.”

Indeed, as access to data and dialogue has evolved rote “global’ recognition of land masses and maps to more thought-filled socioeconomic sensibilities, so too has the dialogue on women’s issues evolved.  Yesterday’s Gloria Steinem is today’s Muhammad Yunus. The groovy disco lyrics of Gloria Gaynor’s  1978 hit “I Will Survive” have become buttoned-up prose in the United Nation’s 2015 Millennium Development Goal for Gender Equality (natch again . . . ).  Even corporate support, including our own Join My Village initiative, represents a broadening of commercial stakeholders beyond the conspicuous (Tupperware) to the cool (Nike).

In addition to increasing our collective consciousness, these evolutions have also increased individual empathy, which is an inarguable measure of progress. When others learn to walk a mile in the sandals of a marginalized woman, the pump of action is surely primed. Yet none of the esteemed members and attendees at last week’s Womenetics conference are busy designing MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banners to hang on this issue’s figurative aircraft carrier.  In fact, the identification of empirical cost-benefit analyses, and the acknowledgement of heightened global awareness seems to be causing even more anxiety for advocates in rooms like this today than it did for similar groups in assuredly smaller rooms yesterday. But why?

Perhaps because we’ve created too much empathy without enough ease.

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote of the false sense of accomplishment that unaccompanied empathy can provide, stating “These days empathy has become a shortcut. It has become a way to experience delicious moral emotions without confronting the weaknesses in our nature that prevent us from actually acting upon them.”

We have become a more sympathetic, but remain an ultimately selfish, sort.

Brooks attributes this action chasm to a weakened moral state, but I have a more pedestrian hypothesis:  we have empathy, but we also have errands. For while I, as a father of four daughters, eagerly embrace the spiritual and socioeconomic connection between my 12-year-old Alice and another 12-year-old Alice halfway around the world, I’m only responsible for getting one to volleyball practice halfway across town. I don’t need more empathy – I’m an empathy engine.  I need ease.

Which brings us back to Betty’s Big Red cookbook and its relevance to last week’s room of nonculinary change makers. Over the past 90 years Betty Crocker has done less to convince the world that a home-cooked meal prepared with love is a good thing, instead doing much more to help us act on that universal, yet often unrealized, conviction. Similarly, Join My Village is designed to do less in developing new approaches to alleviate poverty through the empowerment of women, and more to invite action in its shared theory for change.

This empathy-to-action ethos should sound familiar to fans and followers of General Mills, as it also underlies the success of Box Tops for Education and Save Lids to Save Lives; initiatives actively engaging millions of consumer citizens in seemingly intractable social conditions through increased measures of ease, not just empathy.

Or, as Betty might say, 2 parts ease to 1 part empathy.

During the month of November, the U.S. traditionally celebrates Veterans Day, focusing attention on those who have served our country through military service. It is a time to reflect not only on their contributions but also on their post-service needs, which have evolved over the years. One key challenge today, for example, is how to successfully seek employment after service.

Veterans represent an elite and diverse talent pool available for hire. Most veterans possess transferable skills, professional discipline and positive attributes identifiable in today’s evolving workforce. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, by hiring veterans, employers can leverage the U.S. military’s $140 billion per year spent on education and training and tap into the 200,000 service members who transition to the civilian workforce each year.

The current job market in this post-recessionary economy is a challenge for everyone. But for veterans, that challenge is compounded by the complex issues of transitioning from military to civilian life. Many veterans currently in the job market enlisted in the military right out of high school or college. By doing so, they grew up and matured within the culture of the military, which is different in many ways from civilian life. Their perspective, language and measures of success are different. Thus, when service men or women leave the military environment and begin the transition to civilian life, they find the adjustment difficult. Their confidence is shaken, which in turn has an impact on how veterans look for jobs.

According to T McCreary, president of Military.com,”Veterans often have a hard time translating their own skills and shifting their mindset out of military culture and into civilian culture when talking to a hiring manager. For example, a big part of military culture is the concept of teamwork – so veterans often have a hard time taking full credit for their accomplishments when in an interview.  It’s switching from the ‘we accomplished this project’ to the ‘I accomplished this project’ mindset, which isn’t second-nature to veterans when speaking about their experience in the service. This is something we’ve heard from employers pretty often – that veterans who want to make that transition into a civilian job, need to learn how to compete in, and acclimate to, the environment they’re transitioning into.”

In addition to what civilians encounter when looking for a job, the pressure on a veteran can be compounded, particularly if you factor in things like life-altering injuries, post-traumatic stress or homelessness. There is a need beyond the federal government to help the veterans who have made sacrifices and served our country well. As employers and as corporate citizens, we must provide solutions and tools that will help veterans succeed in their job search and transition to civilian life.

Monster has had a history of support for the military and their families, especially through its Military.com website. Established in 2000, Military.com is the largest military membership organization with more than 10 million registered members, connecting the military community to all the benefits of service. Most recently, the company, in partnership with government and industry, launched the HireHonor™ program as part of its commitment to helping our nation’s veterans find civilian positions that utilize their experiences and skills. HireHonor is a focused, multifaceted effort to meet the employment needs of the men and women who served our country in the armed forces and to support the organizations that hire them. Some of the elements of that initiative include:

• Launching the first Veterans Talent Index (VTI), a groundbreaking report disseminated quarterly to media and veterans employment stakeholders. This ongoing series of reports will provide an accurate and actionable picture of the veterans hiring landscape – not just the veteran unemployment picture. It will highlight the requirements of today’s employers and the needs of transitioning service members, illuminating the gap that is responsible for the high unemployment rate rampant in today’s veteran population. Monster will track and analyze this gap by providing reports to be released on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. These reports will provide insight and recommendations to help both the transitioning service members and their employers.
• Partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in support of “Hiring Our Heroes,” a daylong series of events featuring First Lady Michelle Obama and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The November 10 event served as a forum to announce the new Advisory Committee on Veterans’ Employment, Training and Employer Outreach, of which Monster is a founding member. The keystone of the Chamber program is a new web portal for veteran employment that is powered by Military.com and Monster.
• Hosting, in conjunction with the Non-Commissioned Officers Association and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the first-ever Veterans Virtual Career Fair that took place November 14-18.

As long as men and women continue to serve our country, the need will exist to have resources they can leverage when that service is behind them and they are ready to carry their skills into post-military lives. Our common goal as employers and corporate citizens is to work together to ensure those resources are available.