Northern California Grantmakers

Is it Thursday already?

Not that I’m complaining. It’s been a little quiet here on the blogging front because I’ve been in the throes of putting together our Fall All Member Newsletter. Members, check your inbox for the email announcing the newsletter, or read it online (login required).

But back to Thursday. It’s once again that day of the week where we try to share some Twitter love and highlight some of the organizations and individuals we’re following on Twitter.

And you can always follow NCG on twitter at twitter.com/NorCalGrant.

Here’s Who We’re Following on Twitter

CEP_CambSanFran
The Center for Effective Philanthropy, a.k.a. CEP_CambSanFran, is committed to helping grantmakers better “define, assess and improve their effectiveness and impact.” To that end, they use their twitter feed to posit questions and share research on effective grantmaking.

For example:

RT @edwarmi Would love to see a critique like this of standardized measures of non-profit performance – any takers? http://bit.ly/csL9QT

Report Watch: recent research echos what CEP’s data has found to be true: foundation communications is not easy. http://bit.ly/cQIQC7

 

chickeneggpics
chickeneggpics is the twitter handle of NCG member Chicken & Egg Pictures, “a hybrid film fund and non-profit production company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about the craft of storytelling as they are about the social justice, environmental and human rights issues they’re embracing, translating and exploring on film.”

Chicken & Egg Pictures uses twitter to share news about their grantees and announce information about their grantmaing. Here’s a sample of some recent tweets:

Chicken & Egg’s WHICH CAME FIRST FUND, a fund dedicated to supporting environmentally-focused stories, is open to… http://fb.me/Ae4H6Fdt

Chicken & Egg grantee Lynn Hershman Leeson will premiere her film, !Women Art Revolution – A Secret History,” at… http://fb.me/C3UJoyW8

 

familygiving
The National Center for Family Philanthropy uses their twitter feed to share philanthropic news pertaining to family grantmakers, their programming, and information relevant to the wider philanthropic audience.

Here are some of their recent tweets:

NCFP Teleconference Sept. 16 – Funding Volunteer Capacity to Create Change http://conta.cc/al256K

More on deciphering donor intent: What Would Grandpa Want: http://bit.ly/arxPfC & In Loving Memory: Legacy Grantmaking http://bit.ly/cU7l7C

 

jacobcharold
NCG member and Program Officer at The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation Jacob Harold explains that on his twitter feed he’s expressing his own opinions on philanthropy, climate change, strategy, economics and not those of the foundation.

Either way, we’re glad he’s adding his voice to online conversations.

Here are some of Jacob’s musings via twitter:

It’s not that our planet is fragile; it’s that we’re fragile because we count on it acting a certain way.

Strange that this article doesn’t mention @Philanthropedia, @GiveWell, @RootCause, @GreatNonprofits: http://bit.ly/aZKbmf

Birth of another online giving platform: http://giveloop.com/tour. Some good innovations; but the market’s so crowded already.

 

Have any Twitter recommendations for us? Let us know who you think we should be following.

 

As the NCG staff member who manages our Twitter feed, I also follow the conversations that develop in the Twitterverse (sigh, yes, I said it).

One of the conversations I follow is the #csr thread. For those of you new to Twitter lingo, the hashtag (#) is a way to mark your tweet so that if a reader wants to search for information on a particular subject they simply search for its hashtag.

In the case of corporate social responsibility, that hashtag is #csr.

It was one week ago that the #csr thread was a-buzz regarding a Wall Street Journal article entitled “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility,” written by associate professor of strategy at the University of Michigan Dr. Aneel Karnani.

And when I mean, a-buzz, I mean the link to this article was being re-tweeted like wildfire. In a 12-hour period I saw almost 30 tweets on the article, which is unusual for a conversation hashtag (in my own experience). I mean, sure when there’s a popular article or report it will get several tweets, but 30 in 12 hours, that’s a lot.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

By the 24-hour mark the number of tweets had risen to approximately 90.

Here’s a sampling:

1:09 am davidcoethica: The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility – http://3bl.me/gwnnb4 #csr

4:00 am waynenorman: “It’s the regulations, stupid.” RT @davidcoethica The case against #CSR – http://3bl.me/gwnnb4

11:49 am ebharrison: Is corporate social responsibility fundamentally flawed? That case leads WSJ special section today http://bit.ly/9OSDC7 #CSR #envirocomm

2:55 pm GreenSolitaire: Wow the #wsj about 5 years behind on #csr and corporate #sustainability http://bit.ly/9wvYSx still arguing the business v moral case.

5:42 pm elainecohen: New on the #CSR Reporting blog: my response to #wsj case against #CSR http://bit.ly/dwvaOc

7:26 pm OKL: A Zinger: CSR Now Seen As ?Potentially Dangerous? http://bit.ly/9JuFMa In response to WSJ’s :http://bit.ly/conoVC #CSR

Them’s Fightin’ Words

As you can see it didn’t take long for CSR advocates and practitioners to begin responding with counter arguments.

In fact there were a few articles, blog posts and 260 comments on the WSJ article itself, all taking the case against CSR to task.

In his response published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Scott Henderson Managing Principal of CauseShift argued that Dr. Karnani’s argument “expose[s] the futility of an ideological debate pitting the free market against the common good as if they were wholly separate entities.”

Scott continues:

This is not a hypothetical conversation. The world is full of real problems that threaten the corporate sector.

We face unconventional threats and irregular enemies, and we spend enormous sums at home and abroad for a semblance of security in which to conduct business…Dr. Karnani’s argument relies on an obsolete framework that assumes the free market requires managers to maximize profit and create enduring value for shareholders regardless of the corporation’s social impact. While this has defined the debate for the previous century, it will not and cannot define the future because of one undeniable fact: profit and shareholder value are not created in a vacuum.

Beyond Business founder and blogger Elaine Cohen took issue with what she called Dr. Karnani’s “short-term vision.”

“Many generally believe that shareholders want to maximize SHORT-TERM profit at almost any expense (though there is a growing body of evidence that this is not the case) whilst CSR is by definition focused longer-term. Yes, there is an element of sacrificing short-term profit for greater long term profit, which continues to be in shareholder real interests. Talk to Ray Anderson of Interface, Stuart Rose of Marks and Spencer, Jeff Immelt of GE and many others, and they confirm that CSR-type activities repay themselves many times over. How can a professor of STRATEGY be so hooked in the short-term vision box?

And Cause Capitalism blogger Olivia Khalili countered that maximizing shareholders profits isn’t the only consideration a business has.

“This argument is untenable because in reality businesses are judged by more than shareholders–namely consumers. And increasingly, consumers are choosing not to support companies that exploit the environment, employees, suppliers–even customers’ own health.”

Olivia’s point reminds me why I was even following this entire online conversation: Firms of Endearment.

Two years ago Firms of Endearment co-author Raj Sisodia spoke at NCG’s Corporate Philanthropy Institute. The book (one I enjoyed and I’m not usually a non-fiction reader) gave several examples of businesses who were making profit and ensuring all stakeholders were satisfied (customers, employees, shareholders and communities they existed in).

Making Business Better

Exploring the nuances of the debate, looking at both where the article brings up issues that both “rankle, and others that well underline today’s complex market,” is In Good Company blogger Aman Singh.

Aman reached out to several CSR professionals, such as Dave Stangis, Campbell Soup’s vice president for CSR, to get their opinion.

‘Via email, Stangis acknowledged that he agreed with Karnani about aligning business with social value but saw why he had managed to rankle many.

“Corporate Social Responsibility isn’t about giving money away and adopting the latest cause of activists. CSR and sustainability are approaches to business operation and execution that build employee engagement, improve environmental performance, create positive social impacts, enable operational efficiency, reduce cost, foster innovation, strengthen relationships with customers and consumers and ultimately… create business advantage.” ‘

Aman’s blog post looks at several of the points made in Dr. Karnani’s article. In fact, if you’re looking for a place to start after reading “The Case Against Coporate Social Responsibility, I’d start there.

Is It A Zero Sum Game?

So, do businesses have to choose between profits and CSR? Can they have their cake and eat it too? It’s a provocative debate to say the least.

And one I’ll continue to follow it online.

 

Read “The Case Against Corporate Social Responsibility” online.

Read Scott Henderson’s Chronicle of Philanthropy article “In a Connected Society, Corporations Must Focus on the Social Good.”

Read Elaine Cohen’s blog post response to the WSJ article online.

Read Olivia Khalili’s blog post response to the WSJ article online.

Read Aman Singh’s blog post response to the WSJ article online.

 

It’s Twitter Thursday again here on the NCG blog. Time for us to highlight some of the organizations and individuals we follow through Twitter.

And if you want to follow NCG on Twitter, check us out at twitter.com/NorCalGrant.

Here’s Who We’re Following on Twitter

LPFCH
Also known as the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, LPFCH uses its Twitter account to share research and news related to children’s health. Additionally, this NCG member tweets about Kidscal Updates, their weekly digest about children’s health events in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, and Kidsdata Advisories, which raise the visibility of children’s issues in California.

Here’s a sampling of their recent tweets:

Less Than 25% of 2010 High School Graduates Passed the ACT College Entrance Exam; Questions Rise about College-Readiness http://ow.ly/2rzl3

This week’s Kidscal Update, noting children’s health events in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, now is online http://is.gd/1qq5v

 

tactphil
Not only do I follow Sean Stannard-Stockton‘s Tactical Philanthropy blog, I follow his tactphil Twitter feed. Recently Sean, the CEO of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, used his Twitter feed to muse and stoke dialogue on the Social Innovation Fund’s selection process.

no doubt that “accountability” transparency questions/the “smoke” led to transparency that will advance impact of #SIF effort #SIFDEB

Getting the facts behind the SIF issue: Social Innovation Fund Process Stirs Controversy from @philanthropy – http://bit.ly/cPjiyJ

 

VaultCSR
VaultCSR is the twitter feed of Aman Singh, the CSR Editor at Vault.com. Aman’s interests include corporate social responsibility, sustainability practices, diversity and women leadership in the workplace–all of which are represented in her tweets.

For example:

The #csr Daily is out – read this Twitter newspaper on http://paper.li/tag/csr (147 contributions today)

Comments continue to pour in 4 “Why There IS a case for #CSR Despite WSJ’s Obituary” http://bit.ly/bXgzM3 << Have u weighed in yet? #careers

 

ZeroDivideorg
NCG member ZeroDivide invests in community based social enterprises which leverage technology to benefit people in low income and other underserved communities. Considering their mission, it makes perfect sense that they have a strong online presence on Twitter and that they are concerned about internet accessibility. Case in point this recent tweet on net neutrality:

Users, not ISPs, need to decide what services get on the Internet, says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. http://bit.ly/abLlJq #netneutrality

 

Have any Twitter recommendations for us? Let us know who you think we should be following.