Giving Compass' Take:

• Writing for B the Change, Emily Lonigro Boylan (owner of Chicago-based design studio LimeRed) describes three ways that entrepreneurs can build a business with social impact as a crucial part of governance.

• In this era of increasing Corporate Social Responsibility, how many of these ideas are we putting into use? And how can we amplify those businesses that implement CSR well?

• Here's why we should stop confusing CSR with purpose.

When I started my business in 2004, I wanted to create a different kind of company — a company guided by doing the right thing not just for a bottom line, but for people and communities.

Luckily I learned many lessons along the way and am now able to share best practices of what worked  —  and what didn’t  —  with other social entrepreneurs who want to do business better. Below I share three governance practices we implement at LimeRed that won us the title of Best For The World: Governance.

1. Build it into your foundation. A company committed to having a positive social impact has to walk the talk in everything it does  —  something that’s much easier said than done. I found that making it the core of who we are made it more manageable and kept this guiding principle front and center.

2. You are the company you keep. I’ve applied our promise of doing business better to help us vet the types of clients we work with. After all, the people you choose to partner or work with are a reflection of your values. So at LimeRed, we only work with individuals or organizations that have a positive social impact.

3. Re-evaluate compensation across the board. We have put a lot of focus on the idea of compensation, both in terms of how we compensate employees and how we structure contracts with our clients. In terms of hiring, we don’t ask for salary history and are upfront about compensation in our job description. We also make negotiation a part of hiring and performance evaluation. I’ve designed these policies to bring more equity to pay processes.

Read the full article about best practices for building a socially conscious business by Emily Lonigro Boylan at B the Change.