Taking a Stand? Where are CSR and Corporate Social Activism heading?

by Gregg Feistman:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been around as a concept and practice for decades. But over the last several years, it’s been evolving into something more, bigger and potentially riskier—but with great opportunities—for companies and organizations: Corporate Social Advocacy and Activism (CSA). And it has big implications, and increasing responsibilities, for public relations professionals.

Terms

First, let’s define terms. What is CSR? Start with what it’s not. It’s not corporate philanthropy. Making a donation or becoming an ongoing funding source for a non-profit community group or charity – that’s corporate philanthropy. 

It’s also not solely Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) or Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, although they can be parts of overall CSR efforts. 

CSR is a two-way street between organizations and their stakeholders (including shareholders). Organizations need to meet the needs of their stakeholders and stakeholders have a responsibility to hold organizations accountable for their words and actions, both good and bad. Central to the concept of CSR is the argument of deciding where and how companies fit into the social fabric.

Effective, successful and sustainable CSR efforts must be woven into a company’s DNA. They have to be systematic, supported by senior management, and aligned with a company’s values. Some companies have been at the forefront of CSR efforts for many years, such as Patagonia, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mars Candy Co. and Marks & Spencer. As an example, since 1985 Patagonia has pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the planet. And in 2022, it shook up the business world when founder Yvon Chouinard and his family publicly announced they would transfer their company ownership, worth about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and nonprofit organization to ensure all of the company’s profits—about $100 million a year—are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the world.

While companies like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s (who advocate for criminal justice reform, among other causes) may be the outliers, other, smaller companies can do their part to support causes that are important to their local communities – think globally, act locally. 

Current CSA Practice

Using the framework of institutional theory, CSA can be viewed as a company’s willingness to take a stance on social, political, environmental and economic issues to create societal change by influencing the attitudes and behaviors of actors in its environment. Think of it this way: when’s there’s energy around an issue, that means change is starting to happen and a bigger conversation is taking place. This conversation presents both opportunities and risks to companies. 

While the evolution of CSA accelerated during the years of increased visibility of social justice movements such as #MeToo; the murder of George Floyd, which gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement; Stop Asian Hate; and fighting anti-semitism, the U.S. is also in the throes of an anti-DEI backlash, primarily being driven by the Trump administration. Companies such as Target, Molson-Coors, Ford, Walmart, Budweiser, and others have publicly pulled back on their DEI efforts. To the contrary, companies such as Costco, Marriott, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Apple have re-emphasized their DEI commitments. What gets lost in the headlines-of-the-moment is often, even companies who have publicly pulled back on DEI initiatives, haven’t stopped doing them. They’re just not as public-facing about it as they were. Research shows companies with strong ESG and DEI efforts attract and keep talent and customers, and mostly importantly, produce better financial results over the long term.

A recent CYDE/Ipsos poll found while a plurality (47%) of Americans think it’s inappropriate for companies to publicly comment on political or social issues. Yet 6 in 10 say companies have a responsibility to speak out on issues that may affect their employees, and roughly half say they should speak out on issues that affect customers. Clearly, there’s somewhat of a disconnect.

Part of this disconnect may be due to the way the language is used. The 2025 Axios Harris Poll 100 measuring corporate reputation of American companies found 82% of Americans surveyed support corporate DEI efforts, but the abbreviation itself is “highly divisive, at about 60%.” 

So while CSA overall may still be controversial, it is a growing factor in people’s decision making, from where to shop to where to work. The risk of course, is speaking out and taking a stance on controversial issues. Picking a side can put a company’s bottom line at risk if stakeholders feel taking a public stand on an issue is outside the firm’s scope or don’t agree with the stance. And behaviors must match the rhetoric or there’s a risk to image, reputation and credibility. In other words, the stance has to be authentic, not performative. 

And stakeholders have a responsibility too: if they want a different behavior from a firm, then they must be willing to support it, whether it’s through paying higher prices, higher employee recruitment and retention, employee satisfaction, supporting legislation, etc.

Impact on PR

What do these developments mean for the PR profession? I believe this gives practitioners a golden opportunity to be the executive primarily responsible for corporate social advocacy and activism. They must constantly be performing and analyzing environmental scans to assess what’s going on in and around the environment their organization operates in.

I also argue both CSR and CSA must be strategic, not tactical. To do both right, one must understand the interdependent relationships among a company, its strategy, resources and stakeholders that define its environment. Plus, an understanding of the constraints on it (financial and otherwise) to act.

Using an issues-oriented approach, practitioners can examine their own CSR/CSA strategy and develop a systematic approach to advocacy and activism. Understanding why progress on an issue is lacking, and how the company can best help overcome barriers is key.

While the pendulum has currently swung to more of an anti-CSR/SA direction in the U.S., I think within the near future it will swing back again. At that point, CSA:

• Won’t be a siloed issue; it’ll be cross-functional.
• Will be even more important to businesses; a willingness to speak out on issues can accelerate what you’re doing internally and externally.
• Will have more accountability to commitments companies make; instead of worrying about “getting involved,” you could lose customers, employees and other stakeholders because you didn’t.
• Will result in more measuring of progress on issues.
• Will result in more organizations following the roadmap.

And once the pendulum has swung back or found a way to be at least in the middle somewhere, those CEOs and companies who supported DEI and ESG initiatives and then shied away from them will have to answer the question: so which stance were you lying about?

Collectively, this environment plays right into the PR function and can elevate the profession positively. PR is built to be nimble and cross-functional, unlike other parts of organizations. We should  – and for the sake of our organizations – have an obligation to take advantage of these opportunities.

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Gregg Feistman, M.A. is Professor of Practice, Temple University and co-author, Raising Social Capital.

Written by: Editor