The planet needs a lot of help – it is badly damaged, and the more we can do to protect it now, the better. Businesses need to be just as socially responsible as everyone else, and perhaps even more so since they are so visible and have the potential to do a lot of harm when they don’t consider the environmental aspect of what they are doing.
Not only will being more socially responsible help with your moral aspect of business, but it will help with the financial side as well – you’ll find more people are willing to buy from you if you can prove you’re doing you but for the planet. So there are clearly a number of reasons why being a socially responsible company is a good idea; here are some ways you can prove to others that you’re doing the right thing.
Fundraising
If a business is to be successful, it needs to make a profit, and that profit should grow year on year where possible. This is to be expected – it’s necessary – and not many people would begrudge this; it’s what your business (and everyone else’s) was set up to do. However, it’s what you do with those profits that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Although you’ll want and probably need to invest much of the money you make back into your business to reach the next step in your path to success, if you were to use anything left over to raise money for charity, either by donating directly or by organizing a fundraiser so that even more money can be collected, you’d be showing that you are a socially responsible company able to understand that there are people in need whom you can help. Use some of the money raised to buy an engraved brick to commemorate what you have done, and no one will forget the good you did as a business.
Establish An Award
Giving to charity is wonderful, and everyone can benefit from this in some way. However, if you want to be more specific in your social responsibilities and help someone directly, you might want to set up an award. This award, given to someone different every year, will cement your business as one that cares for people and is therefore socially responsible.
What could this award be? It could be a scholarship to a good school for someone who would otherwise miss out, or perhaps an internship. It could be a lump sum of money to go to the winner’s favorite charity. It could be a trip somewhere. It could be a helping hand for someone to start a business. No matter what it is, you’ll be able to show how committed you are to helping people using your business, and that will help you gain more customers and be more responsible in general.
Recycle
Recycling is such a simple thing to do, yet it’s something that even now still gets forgotten by businesses. Perhaps this is because it is so simple that it gets overlooked. Whatever the reason, if you don’t currently recycle in your business, it’s time to start. If you do recycle, make sure your customers are aware of this – it’s as easy as having separate bins around the office or warehouse and putting signs up letting any visitors know you are doing what you can for the environment.
It may seem like a simple things, but if everyone recycled more, landfills would be less full, and the planet would be a lot healthier.
