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Following up on last week’s blog post about how, in the midst of the economic downturn, the best corporate citizens built more successful ways of working with governments and NGOs, we now look at how to help organizations establish them by shining a light on real-world examples and providing a platform for connecting with potential partners.

At the 2011 COMMIT!Forum we highlighted several new models of collaboration. Two of my personal favorites were the work done by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group to alleviate slave-like working conditions for migrant workers in Florida and that of Western Union and USAID to establish an African Diaspora Marketplace to harness the wealth and entrepreneurialism of this community to jump-start new businesses in Africa itself...

The recession started a renaissance in how companies, NGOs, & governments collaborate. 

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.  With governments and non-profits facing yawning budget deficits and business facing one of its biggest trust-deficits in history, organizations are coming together in unprecedented ways to tackle some of society's greatest challenges. In fact, a distinct set of collaborative practices used by the “best corporate citizens” and their partners have emerged that others could adopt.

At Green Gov 2011 this morning I facilitated a lively panel that included discussion of what is  sustainability and what is the role of the sustainability profession. Ira Feldman (Greentrack Strategies), Terry Yosie (World Environment Center) and Valerie Patrick (Bayer Corporation) were our panelists and came with a rich set of views and experience.

The discussion of what is sustainability was broad and philosophical using terms like ‘systems thinking’ and ‘form of art’. But many people in the room (myself included) had sustainability jobs, with specific job descriptions and objectives.  So what can we compare that to?

Susan Pullin, CSC Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, writes that

There are many opinions about the real value to a company of corporate responsibility (CR). Aman Singh recently wrote for Forbes about these contrary opinions and posed the question: “Are we fighting over semantics or strategy?” She went on to consider how stakeholders often view CR. Is it perceived as something that is disconnected from markets, profits and capitalism itself? Is it typically misinterpreted as a cost, with some seeing CR as little more than “giving away money and adopting the latest cause of activists”?

As we look at this debate, one point is clear:  if CR is perceived anything but a contributor to top-line growth, then stakeholder opinions will be negative and the value of CR is misunderstood.

In his address to a joint session of Congress last week, President Obama said, “Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country.  We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse.”Indeed, the evidence abounds.

In recent days, the Labor Department reported that the economy created virtually no net jobs in August—its poorest monthly showing in a year. Unemployment remained stuck at 9.1 percent. The president’s own budget office, in its midyear review, forecast that the jobless rate will persist at 9 percent into next year as well. And just today, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the national poverty rate had hit 15.1 percent last year while median household income declined. The 46 million Americans living below the poverty line last year represented the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.

In his address tonight to a Joint Session of Congress, President Obama will lay out his plans for kick-starting employment and growth. America needs a plan for good-paying jobs combined with sustained and sustainable growth. Here’s our jobs and growth agenda at the COMMIT!Forum Sept 26-27 in NYC:

How can corporate responsibility help you sell more stuff, save more money, and grow your business? Come find out at the COMMIT!Forum on Sept 26-27 in NYC when you hear:

- How UPS uses sustainability reporting to sell more & save more. 

- How HIP Investor, TIAA-CREF, & KKR deliver shareholder returns.

- How Corporate Voices for Working Families builds a more competitive workforce.

Individuals at all levels can take action to improve Corporate Citizenship

Will “tribal” loyalties tear American society apart?

How can you navigate these waters? What can we all do to restore our collective confidence?

It starts with a return to fundamentals. The experience of the past few years has shredded our civil society, left many of our leaders so attached to being right that they can’t see their role in crushing economic growth. Overcoming these challenges will take straight-talk and a close examination of the relationships between us as individuals and the institutions that we rely on: businesses, governments, NGOs, and civil society as a whole. The COMMIT!Forum convenes on Sept 26-27 in New York City to do just that: strengthen the fabric of our society.

More than ever, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are echoing Cuba Gooding Jr.’s line “Show me the money!” when it comes to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Having successfully fundraised CSR capital for an NGO, I’m often asked for my secret, as though I have the best-ever marinara sauce recipe. These conversations are often asymmetrical as I get excited about how CSR is revolutionizing development and exclaim: “But it’s about rethinking our whole approach to social change!” or “Think in terms of making the pie bigger, not just redistributing wealth!” or “Creativity not bureaucracy!” Although NGOs embrace the excitement about CSR, they understandably have questions about companies’ funding priorities, how the procurement process works, if they should present themselves differently and so on.

Navigating corporate funding is indeed a bit like being at sea with no compass. So I’m setting aside my excitement for a moment, putting on my practical hat and listing a few tips for chasing CSR money...

There are some things in life that are pretty tough to measure. Perfection. Faith. Happiness. The same is true in business. Businesses struggle all the time to quantitatively understand brand value, human capital, corporate responsibility (CR) and more. Just as we have our own ways of assessing (or agonizing about) how perfect, faithful or happy we are, businesses haven’t stopped trying to quantify the seemingly unquantifiable. If you’re reading this blog post, it’s probably safe to assume that you’re either one of my friends being charitable or you’re engaged in the discussion about the need to measure the results of CR.

But can we give ourselves a break for a minute? Instead of looking for big answers to big questions, can we start small and apply the same approach we’d take with life’s immeasurables? If my pitch isn’t perfect, I might spend some more time on the mound. If I’m lacking faith, I might ponder what is making me doubt. If I am unhappy, I might try to exercise or laugh more. What if I can’t seem to identify the causal link between my CR initiative and increased profits?

This year Dora, the famed preschool explorer, will do something cartoons rarely do:  age.  Since 2000, Dora and her backpack have helped the world’s preschoolers get ready for school and now she’s getting ready for bold new adventures as a full-blown tween-aged middle schooler.

Few people have done as much to advance the cause of sustainability as Dora and her cousin Diego.  They’ve raised the consciousness of a whole generation to the point that every parent I know has had some version of a “Dora moment” – your kid calls you out for not recycling, using plastic bags, or committing some other sin of carelessness.