The CSR Hall of Fame honors organizations that have not just made an impact over the past several years but that have launched model CSR programs that will be referred to for years to come. These are brands noted for their history of corporate social responsibility programs and CSR communications success. The 2014 CSR Hall of Fame inductees were honored at the CSR Awards luncheon on April 7, 2014, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels
When it comes to corporate social responsibility, Hyundai Motor America isn’t driven by a specific metric or corporate mandate. Rather, it is driven by its desire to develop deep connections with the communities in which it operates, not only through providing quality products, but by helping to solve big problems in society. This spirit of “doing good things together” is what binds Hyundai’s employees, dealers and customers in supporting CSR initiatives locally and nationally.
Hyundai’s CSR initiatives are focused in the areas of education, community goodwill, diversity and health. It has partnered with organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, NAACP, MIND Research Institute, Focus Hope, TELACU, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, NCLR, among others. Hyundai’s signature and largest CSR effort is its own nonprofit organization, Hyundai Hope On Wheels. The organization partners with nearly 200 children’s hospitals nationwide to help kids fight cancer. Over the last 15 years, Hyundai has become one the largest private funders of pediatric cancer research.
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson has a long track record in aiding philanthropic efforts in developed and developing countries, engaging in CSR efforts before it was common or fashionable, and certainly before the invention of the phrase "triple bottom line."
In 1906, the year of the earthquake and fires that devastated San Francisco, Johnson & Johnson was 20 years old. Within hours, emergency medical and surgical supplies were loaded on trains bound for San Francisco. Johnson & Johnson provided gauze, sutures, bandages and other necessities, making the company the largest donor of medical provisions to the area. This set the tone for future decades in which the company provided disaster relief and committed itself to a spirit of giving.
For more than 25 years, Johnson & Johnson has partnered with Safe Kids Worldwide, a global organization dedicated to protecting kids from unintentional injuries, the #1 cause of death to children in the U.S. And more recently, J&J has put in place a sustained effort to reduce its environmental impact by developing and marketing greener products that reduce waste, water consumption, packaging and energy consumption.
Microsoft
Microsoft has made charitable giving and community outreach a key part of its corporate activities for many years. Its Employee Giving Campaign, started in 1983, crossed the $1 billion threshold in 2013, and employees have volunteered more than 2 million hours in community causes since 2005. The company has provided a total of $6.5 billion in cash, services and software to nonprofit and community efforts since 1983.
Microsoft's PR savvy—along with agency partners like Waggener Edstrom—has been a guiding force behind many of its CSR efforts. On Sept. 10, 2013, Microsoft launched Office 365 for Nonprofits in 40 countries—from Austria to Indonesia, Mexico to Sweden, and beyond—followed by additional rollout waves in nearly 50 other countries in the subsequent months. By Sept. 25, the announcement generated 163 placements that hit key messages on the global availability, the value to nonprofits, and the company’s ongoing commitment to the community; Office 365 for Nonprofits generated nearly 4,000 tweets reaching more than 23.7 million followers, and reached more than 34,000 people via Facebook.
TOMS – One For One Movement
From its founding in 2006, TOMS shoes has made social responsibility part of its business plan and part of its philosophy. In its first year, the company began giving one pair of shoes to a child in need for each pair that was purchased. All told, TOMS has given 10 million pairs of shoes to children in need.
The One For One Movement goes beyond the actual giving of shoes. TOMS now manufactures some of its "Giving Pairs" in countries that are beneficiaries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Argentina and China. TOMS also partners with notable nonprofit organizations, including Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project, charity: water, Movember and the Eastern Congo Initiative.
TOMS has adapted its One For One concept to his eyewear line, contributing prescription glasses, sight-saving surgery or medical treatment for each pair of glasses sold.
Tech startups in Silicon Valley only need to look at TOMS to learn how to build social responsibility into their DNA while they're still at the starting gate.
The Walt Disney Company
Going back 30 years, the Walt Disney Company's VoluntEARS program has promoted the well-being of children and families around the world. Since the program’s founding, Disney VoluntEARS have given more than 6.5 million hours of volunteer service in communities around the world. And in 2013 alone, VoluntEARS efforts totaled 667,013 hours. Factoring in the company's charitable giving efforts in humanitarian aid and support and grants to protect wildlife and wild spaces, Disney contributed $370 million to philanthropic efforts in 2013.
Disney has always been smart about tying its social responsibility initiatives to the company's identity and to its individual properties. For instance, in 2012 ABC Family's annual "25 Days of Christmas" programming event incorporated a "25 Days of Giving Back" campaign to help fight hunger in partnership with Feeding America. And in Summer 2013 Disney presented SummerStage Kids, which exposed New York City youth to the world of international arts and culture through free dance performances, storytelling, acrobats, spoken word and music.