Nonprofit-Performance-360-Vol-1-No-1-Maxwell

Cheryl Snapp Conner

Business Communications on Social Responsibility Goals

I n case you haven’t noticed yet, social

that 84% of consumers said they would pay more money with a retailer that offers programs like this. The ability to express altruism through their normal retail activities is a plus for the majority of consumers today. Social Media Advocacy and Social Responsibility 3. are ideal companions.There’s a new sector of social media activity emerging called employee advocacy (although the term applies to advocates from outside of an organization as well). By organizing cohesive social media activities with the help of a platform designed to manage this task, a company called EveryoneSocial reported the following in a recent article for SocialMediaToday: Recent data compiled by EveryoneSocial.com, gives a glimpse at what any organization’s base of employees, provided with proper training and an automated platform for sharing, can do. A base of 1,250 employees can generate: Increased brand reach of 1.1 million • individuals for content shared An annual increase of 25 million authentic • impressions A savings of $515,000 in recruiting expenses • $1.2 million in earned media advertising • value A 19% increase in revenue growth • These results are all achievable within traditional for-profit organizations, but the results are far more

responsibility is good for business in a number of ways. It’s no longer a choice of doing good or good for business. In an increasing number of arenas, these two goals are one and the same. Consider the following: Millennials are motivated by meaningful work as 1. much or more than by money. This burgeoning workforce sector is fully prepared to engage, but they aremore prepared to engagewhen they see and believe that the work they and their organization does has meaning that resonates for them. And according to research, they are fully engaged when they are aligned with choosing the projects and outcomes, and recognize their role in whether or not the organization is achieving these goals. If you are one of many organizations working to tap into this tremendous workforce – doing work that has an altruistic or higher meaning, whether your organization is a nonprofit or not – is one of the best ways to channel this emerging team of engaged employees. Corporate Reward programs, for the first time, are 2. more aligned around actions than discounts.Here’s another surprise: new research from Cincinnati based customer loyalty firm, Colloquy, recently discovered in a survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers that customers are more incented by actions than discounts. When businesses invite them to “do good” in ways such as living a healthier lifestyle, sharing messages on social media, or participating in social responsibility programs, the loyalty they show is far greater than when a company offers discounts alone.The preference is so great, in fact,

30 I Nonprofit Professional Performance Magazine