NCoC: Baltimore depends on its good corporate citizens

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Baltimore depends on its good corporate citizens

Baltimore Sun

June 18, 2012

Many business leaders share Mr. Plank’s and Mr. Bisciotti’s belief that private industry can help formulate solutions to community challenges, not only through their own personal contributions but by instituting a culture of giving back within their companies.

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Baltimore depends on its good corporate citizens

We are encouraged to see the recognition of the corporate citizenship of Under Armour and the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore City schools ( "Protecting Baltimore's house," June 11 ). We applaud the commitment to community of both organizations and we agree with The Sun that to make a meaningful impact, efforts such as these should go beyond one project or one day of volunteering. To truly make a lasting impact, we believe citizenship must be part of a company's DNA.

Many business leaders share Mr. Plank's and Mr. Bisciotti's belief that private industry can help formulate solutions to community challenges, not only through their own personal contributions but by instituting a culture of giving back within their companies.

To help establish a corporate blueprint for continued growth and sustainable impact, we have launched The Civic 100 survey . The Civic 100 will provide consumers and employees alike with a way to objectively evaluate S&P 500 companies' community engagement, like the work by Under Amour and the Ravens to revitalize schools and inspire young students. In today's socially minded world, shareholders, consumers and employees are looking for companies that do the right thing.

According to a survey conducted by Penn Schoen & Berland, 75 percent of respondents indicated that corporate responsibility is important to them and that they were more likely to purchase products or services from a company after reading its responsibility agenda. Even in a time of economic challenges, the same survey found 72 percent of respondents willing to sacrifice spending or salary to support corporate social responsibility initiatives.

The good deeds highlighted in your article are the ideals of The Civic 100, and we hope that Baltimore-based S&P 500 companies Legg Mason and T. Rowe Price, themselves companies committed to improving Baltimore, will join The Civic 100 effort.

Jackie Norris and David Smith
Jackie Norris is executive director of the Points of Light Corporate Institute and David Smith is executive director of the National Conference on Citizenship.

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