Is charity social responsibility?
After years helping businesses become more profitable, I've found myself waist deep in helping businesses get onboard the social responsibility bandwagon. Too often, I find when I meet with them they confuse charitable giving for social responsibility.
There is a unique and quintessential distinction between charitable giving and action for justice, creating a social responsible business. Charity is important and necessary in an unjust world. Acts of mercy through charity provide a respite to an injustice. Acts of justice, work to create sustainable social responsibility, by seeking to get to the root of an injustice with a resolution that is equitable (not equal) for all to fix the injustice so there is no need for mercy/charity. We are a long way from a world without a need for charity. Both are necessary – knowing the difference can give you a leg up on becoming as socially responsible as possible as well as savvy with your charitable giving.
Here’s an example. Consider Fair Trade Sports, a sporting equipment manufacturing company who has chosen a social enterprise model as their operating model. A social enterprise operating model requires the core values and practices of the company to reflect a triple bottom line:
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