What is corporate social responsibility?

Rising corporate social responsibility (CSR) presents an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to strengthen bonds with like-minded businesses and amplify a combined impact.

Employees, stakeholders, and customers have spoken: They want to see CSR in action, signaling to corporations and nonprofits to connect around shared values and build corporate giving opportunities that work for everyone.

Below, we’ll discuss what CSR is and how this opportunity can help you build partnerships with top corporations nationwide, including identifying the CSR approach that best suits your fundraising efforts.

A quick overview of corporate social responsibility

While there’s no mandate for companies to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR), it’s a growing expectation that for-profit businesses create value beyond their bottom line. CSR aims to introduce achievable and long-term collaborations between nonprofit and for-profit organizations to make the world a better place.

Companies may create special CSR projects, start a movement, connect to an existing cause and organization, or empower their employees to take action on a cause that matters to them.

Corporate social responsibility: 4 key areas of focus

There are several types of CSR that business leaders can prioritize. Areas of focus center on the industry, stakeholders, and market where an organization can gain a competitive advantage with customers. The following key areas are where many businesses develop CSR strategies:

• Environmental responsibility: The consensus is that organizations should opt for the most environmentally friendly behavior possible, from sustainability and reducing potentially harmful practices (like pollution or carbon footprint) to regulating emissions and energy consumption. This can also mean offsetting negative environmental impact by funding research, donating to environmental nonprofits, and getting involved with environmental actions, like planting trees or cleaning local parks.
• Ethical responsibility: The expectation is that business practices are fair and ethical in the treatment of stakeholders, leaders, investors, employees, supply chains, and customers. Ethical behavior may also mean creating standards for products, ingredients, materials, or components, and sourcing according to fair-trade regulations.
• Philanthropic responsibility: The public expects businesses to play an active role in making the world a better place through donations, volunteerism, and long-term partnerships with nonprofits that align on missions. Organizations can donate a portion of their earnings, match employee giving amounts, get involved in campaigns, and sponsor fundraising events.
• Economic responsibility: The consensus is that operating a financially sustainable business means responsible financial management, long-term investment, job creation, innovation, and compliance with laws and regulations.

The growth of corporate social responsibility in the United States

Businesses now need to establish and showcase CSR efforts to various stakeholders to gain their trust and respect. According to The Conference Board, today’s consumers are giving more to education, public-society benefits, and environmental and animal welfare organizations. That shift raises the bar: People now expect the businesses they work for and buy from to reflect the same values.

We see this trend toward socioeconomic priorities reflected in the issues driving corporate donors to give: food security (45%), digital inclusion (41%), affordability (39%), and housing (38%). These expectations continue to fuel more extensive and creative CSR initiatives aligned with public interest. This gets at the heart of social impact: informing business strategies that gain loyalty from new generations of customers and employees that determine success.

A recent report by ZipDo found that 67% of customers stay loyal to brands that support social causes, and 81% of employees say they’re more motivated to work for a company actively engaging in CSR practices.

Why corporate social responsibility is good for nonprofits

One of the easiest ways for companies to maintain a strong CSR program is to build relationships with trusted nonprofits. These charitable organizations already have fundraising initiatives, events, campaigns, and donation processes that support greater communities in need.

To help expedite the process and get your organization on corporate leaders’ radar, consider proactively pitching a corporate partnership to add value to your team and theirs once you’ve identified them as a strong match.

Corporate partnerships serve as a long-term solution for CSR growth and an expansion strategy for your nonprofit’s mission. Everyone wins when you present a mutually beneficial relationship to a for-profit business you feel good about partnering with to achieve shared goals.

Keep in mind a single corporate partnership can combine several giving initiatives, like direct giving, employee fundraising, event sponsorship, and volunteer engagement. The brand visibility and credibility you get by associating with a reputable business also benefits donor acquisition if supporters have a positive association with the corporate partner.

CSR trends nonprofits should know

CSR priorities have shifted significantly in recent years. By understanding these trends, nonprofits are better positioned to secure and renew funding through corporate partnerships.

ESG and CSR convergence

The rise in CSR requires a standardized way to assess how well a company lives up to its social responsibilities. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework measures this, with reporting frameworks that now shape how companies structure their CSR priorities.

Nonprofits that can demonstrate alignment with a company’s published ESG commitment—particularly in environmental impact, community investment, or workforce development—are better positioned to attract corporate partnerships. When pitching to a corporate partner, reference their ESG report directly to show you understand their public commitments. Look for this on their website in the Investor Relations, Sustainability, or ESG sections.

Employee-driven giving and volunteerism

More employees expect a direct say in where their company’s CSR resources go. Employee-driven giving programs, workplace giving platforms, and volunteer time off policies have grown significantly in recent years. Nonprofits that make it easy for employees to fundraise, volunteer, and track their own impact, as well as the company’s, gain a structural advantage in securing and sustaining corporate partnerships.

Cause-area alignment and reputational stakes

Companies are increasingly selective about which causes they associate with publicly. CSR partnerships tied to high-visibility cause areas like food security, workforce development, and community health carry a strong reputational upside for companies.

Conversely, partnerships that lack authentic alignment attract more public scrutiny. Nonprofits with a clear, well-documented mission and transparent impact reporting are better positioned to pass corporate due diligence processes that have recently grown more rigorous.

Measurable impact and data transparency

Corporate partners now require quantifiable impact metrics before committing to a CSR partnership. Nonprofits should come to a partnership pitch with clear data, including:

• Number of people served
• Dollars spent
• Program outcomes
• Third-party validation (if applicable)

Platforms like GoFundMe Pro that provide real-time fundraising reporting make it significantly easier to generate the kind of transparent, shareable impact data corporate partners now expect.

How to pitch partnerships to businesses

Find the right organizations

Start by identifying a handful of companies to approach. While revenue and brand names feel like the most important factors in your decision, look beyond the surface and into the heart of an organization to find the best fit. Your nonprofit can also choose companies that employ and serve demographics that match your ideal donor base to increase potential exposure and awareness opportunities.

Then, explore social media channels, websites, and press coverage to learn about a company’s personality and priorities. Researching the ESG pages of the companies you’re targeting can help you frame your pitch. Keep in mind that there may not be a dedicated page for CSR. Instead, you may find a campaign page like this one from Patagonia, or commitments listed as part of a Careers page like this one from Starbucks. Taking the time to do this research shows you know what matters to a business and where you can find common ground for building a relationship.

Pitching a socially responsible company with a long-term commitment means looking at how well the organization will grow with your nonprofit and honoring the aspects that make you unique. If you pitch multiple organizations, make a meaningful first impression by personalizing your message to showcase the thoughtfulness that went into selecting them.

Present multiple options

The best way to engage corporate partners is to be ready with various ways they can get involved in your organization. Here are a few options to include in your pitch based on your priorities, the campaigns that lead to the best results for your organization, and the CSR program they currently have:

• Direct giving: Present a customized crowdfunding campaign that helps a business tell your story and celebrates donors’ positive impact in real-time, with co-branding that elevates them and their reputation.
• Gift matching: Show leaders how simple it is to establish employee gift matching and the benefit of employee engagement in retaining those who want to feel their organization’s support. When you have an accessible way to establish donation matching and track performance across the organizations you pitch, you can present a competitive edge.
• Event sponsorship: Create tailored sponsorship packages to attract businesses with the reputation benefits of attaching their brand to your larger efforts or hosting a unique event created just for them. It could be helpful to include a branding mock-up across your event materials to emphasize how simple this option can be for them to incorporate.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising: Show off a way to involve the whole team. This is another great way to mock-up a co-branded peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to show businesses how simple it is to share across their departments. You can make it fun by setting a company-wide goal and having teams or groups compete to raise the most, tapping into their network to maximize support.

When your partnership opportunities align with the organization’s expressed CSR strategies, corporate leaders can start to envision the value of a partnership more clearly.

Create a repeatable strategy

Businesses are all about long-term thinking, which means showcasing the longevity of a nonprofit partnership is essential. One way to do this is to emphasize how easy it is to spin up new campaigns unique to the business and its branding.

Campaign templates for crowdfunding and peer-to-peer campaigns are a great asset for the organization to establish an annual fundraising effort. These are also excellent tools to help run seasonal campaigns, like a spring gardening event. Businesses will appreciate that you help them showcase a more consistent philanthropic influence without additional effort.

You can also edit permissions within a campaign template on GoFundMe Pro and lock elements you don’t want to change. This gives autonomy to the marketing, public relations, or human resources teams that may lead your partnership efforts on the business side. Pair that with the reporting and metrics available on each campaign, and you have a solid formula for a long-term partnership built to scale with CSR program demands.

Encourage employee engagement

As you solidify your pitch, reiterate the value of employee engagement with opportunities to get people involved. Remember, younger employees today want to do more than donate passively to a good cause. They want to be intimately involved in the cause and understand how their contribution influences the bigger picture.

This is a key opportunity to highlight volunteerism, employee fundraising, and donation matching as key components of the organization’s talent attraction and retention strategies. Help businesses envision how to display your partnership on career sites, in job descriptions, and within employee onboarding materials, as doing so also solidifies the partnership and loyalty of an entirely new donor base for your organization that can stay with you even if they change jobs in the future.

Cause-area research, multiple partnership options, and a personalized pitch take time to put together. However, rest assured that effort pays off. It’s what helps you reach the right companies and land the deal.

Deliver your strongest corporate partnership pitch

Your corporate partnership pitch can meet the moment of heightened CSR efforts. With a repeatable, mutually beneficial process for driving direct donations, storytelling, and employee engagement, your nonprofit is in a prime position to land trusted corporate partners.

GoFundMe Pro’s comprehensive fundraising platform makes corporate partnerships easier by:

• Customizing co-branded crowdfunding campaigns that tell your story and celebrate donor impact to encourage giving
• Tailoring sponsorship packages for organizations to include their branding on your campaign page or virtual venue
• Empowering employees to fundraise on your behalf with peer-to-peer fundraising and corporate gift matching to make their gifts go further

We help you remove the barriers and elevate your cause with an audience of supporters ready to form fruitful, long-term relationships.

Learn more about the thousands of nonprofits that choose GoFundMe Pro to power corporate partnerships and the tools available to bring your vision to life.