Corporate social responsibility is millennials' new religion
If you want to understand the magnitude of opportunities available to organizations that align with charities, consider this: For millennials — who, at 86 million strong, make up the largest population group the U.S. has ever seen — social responsibility is the new religion.
For the generations that came before Gen Y, as millennials are often called, their family activities and social network often revolved around the family church. Yet the Pew Research Center reports that fully 1 in 4 members of the millennial generation — those about 12 to 33 years old — are unaffiliated with any particular faith.
In the world of philanthropy, these “unaffiliateds” are among the most coveted advocates and potential volunteers, donors and future board stewards. They're coming of age professionally nearly at the same time as the baby boomer population starts shrinking, and they are very attuned to social issues and their relationships to favorite brands.
According to a 2011 study by ad agency network TBWA/Worldwide and TakePart, the digital division of Participant Media, 7 in 10 young adults consider themselves social activists — about double since they were last surveyed, in 2010.
- • 1 in 3 boycott or support businesses based on the causes they care about. They tend to reward organizations and businesses for those groups' involvement in social causes.
- • 4 in 5 said they'd be more likely to purchase from a company that supports a cause they care about (if price and quality were equal) and 3 in 4 would think more highly of a company that supports a social cause.
- • A stunning 3 in 4 believe that corporations should create economic value for society by addressing its needs.
BEYOND PRODUCT PITCHES
It's not just a matter of selling products and services to millennials — corporate social responsibility is, increasingly, how organizations sell themselves to potential employees. Three in four young adults who say they consider themselves social activists say they seek out employers that support a social cause, according to the TBWA survey. Seeking to align themselves with corporations that are attempting to give back to the world is very much a part of their career calling.
Marketing and advertising professionals need to align ourselves with this movement. It is the future of customer engagement, relationship management and lifetime brand loyalty.
I believe that in five years, all major brands will have corporate social responsibility agendas that not only capitalize on the desire to do good but intertwine with their brand promises. In 2013, four companies — Microsoft Corp., Walt Disney Co., Google Inc. and BMW — tied for the No. 1 spot on the Reputation Institute's list of the corporations with the best social responsibility reputations. Like other leaders in this new era of for-profit and for-purpose business missions, these brands know that philanthropy is not the result of successful businesses — it makes businesses successful.
However, people will not engage with a cause if they believe an organization is only using charity as window dressing — or worse, pre-emptive cover for potential bad publicity. The key to making social-impact activity actually happen — the authenticity part of the equation — is getting the public, private and nonprofit sectors together. Corporations will succeed if they form strong partnerships across the “do good” eco-system, actively analyze data to see what people care about, create content and experiences in the right voice and seize the unique ability digital has to increase awareness and spur action.
Efforts must be strategic and innovative. Guidelines should be informed by the business objectives of the corporation. This starts with the following three shifts:
- • A socially conscious initiative must focus on core issues — it can't be weakly spread across many or unrelated issues.
- • The corporation needs to go beyond a single day of service or attaching a logo to its product. It can't just write a check; it must work to engage its employees to enthusiastically commit to the initiative.
- • Transparency is key to the success of any for-profit/nonprofit partnership.
Millennials want to be part of a movement. Give them one they can make their own and they will be passionate — and, yes, evangelical — about it.
Andrew Swinand is co-founder and managing director of Chicago-based Frequency540 and a co-founder of Abundant Venture Partners,
an early stage business accelerator focused on service-based companies. Follow him on Twitter: @swinand
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