Giving Compass' Take:

• Noah Rue, writing for B the Change, discusses how corporate social responsibility, transparency, and sustainability are becoming more critical to business models and useful for driving public policy. 

• How can donors also play a role in helping influence public policy? Are there places where CSR business models and donor goals intersect? 

• Read more about trends in corporate social responsibility and what to expect in the next year. 

As climate change becomes a pressing issue, more companies are beginning to have a change of heart when it comes to their policies and processes that have a negative environmental impact. Not only is this shift better for the planet, but it is also proving to be better for business.

Sustainability, corporate responsibility and transparency are becoming valued characteristics in modern business. While companies historically have been kept in relative check by rules, regulations and policies put into effect by institutions, these old policy structures are no longer enough to stymie the damage being done by large corporate entities. Some say that the only way we will really see sustainable public policy enacted is if corporations are the ones who kick off the process.

While the U.S. has its fair share of public managers and public administrators doing their best to coordinate efforts with elected officials to help with long-term sustainability, they can only do so much. The public sector is indeed charged with developing appropriate policy. However, that policy can be easily affected by public opinion, which in turn can be affected by the actions of any given business. If companies decide to become the torchbearers for environmental activism, public policy will surely follow suit.

While government bodies have limited resources that are often tied up in bureaucratic gridlock, private companies have much more leeway in how and when they spend their money.

Corporate social responsibility has become a factor in not only a consumer’s choice of whether to engage with a company’s product, but also whether municipalities consider a company for contracts in local communities or abroad.

Read the full article about how businesses can take the lead on public policy by Noah Rue at B the Change.