Large companies are able to expand their public presence through their CSR campaigns.
A corporate social responsibility initiative describes an internal policy that a company has, which often includes charity work and social campaigns. This is intended to ensure that the company is within acceptable ethical standards and norms, and to increase responsibility. A CSR can boost a company’s public social presence, which in turn causes consumers, employees and stakeholders to view the company in a more positive light. This may compensate for negative publicity or opinions of the company, or might simply create increased positivity surrounding it. CSR can include philanthropy, business models, volunteering work, and so on.
Perhaps the most common method of corporate social responsibility is through philanthropy.
Philanthropy in this case refers to monetary donations made by corporations to communities, impoverished areas, and to those in need. Corporations can also make their corporate social responsibility efforts a direct part of their business models. A notable example of this would be Fair Trade, which aims to help producers in developing countries have more sustainable trading conditions. In implementing fair trade in a business plan, a corporation can often advertise that it practices fair trade, which in turn generates positive social response. In some instances, this may increase sales, as consumers are becoming more and more aware of the need for fair trade and other social responsibility initiatives. 
The concept of “Creating Shared Value” has to do with the link between corporations and the community.
The viability of a company has to do with that of its community, and vice versa. As such, companies strive to better serve their communities, and often see a payoff in their own business because of this.
The amount of effort that a company puts into its corporate social responsibility is not random. Companies review the efforts of their rivals, and take into consideration how much their competitors are putting into their own CSR. This includes determining how much benefit this company is creating for society and environment, as well as how consumers and clients are responding to this. This reviewing of competing companies can lead to increased CSR efforts from a company, which, for charities, is a good thing.
Companies benefit from their corporate social responsibility efforts in a multitude of ways.
There are four primary ways which may overlap:
- human resources
- risk management
- brand definition
- and license to operate
Human resources suggests that CSR may improve recruitment and retention, meaning how the company is preceded to potential and current employees will benefit from a strong CSR policy.
Risk management means that a strong CSR policy may provide a sort of metaphorical cushion for the company in case of any unfortunate unforeseen incidents. This might include an environmental disaster, a corruption scandal, and so on. If a company has been previously seen to be “doing good”, it is likely to face less backlash in such a case. Media attention may be deflected by being able to fall back on positive efforts that have been previously made by the corporation.
Brand definition has to do with how a company differentiates itself from its competitors. Building a base of strong ethical values, and marketing the company as having said values, can make a brand stand out from others that are similar to it. This reputation will serve as a form of marketing and advertising, all while providing something positive.
License to operate means that a company will be more likely to avoid taxation or regulation because of their corporate social responsibility efforts. The theory behind this is that governments, consumers, and citizens will believe that the company is putting effort into responsible health and safety, diversity, and environmental protection.
While there are a multitude of reasons that companies practice CSR, ranging from avoiding backlash to simply wanting to do good, it is clear that corporate social responsibility is beneficial to both corporations and the causes they support through their initiatives. CSR can boost employee morale, and can allow consumers to choose to support a good cause by selecting certain brands based on their efforts. As more companies push to have better CSR initiatives, the efforts become more engrained in the companies themselves. It is often a win-win for the companies and the causes they support, and anything that elicits positive change is generally a step in the right direction.