Giving Compass' Take:

• It will be crucial in the next couple of months for companies to consider how the crisis affects all of their stakeholders—employees, communities, customers, and partners.

• How can companies leverage their philanthropic arms to protect their surrounding communities? 

• Here are suggestions and recommendations for donors responding to coronavirus. 

The COVID-19 crisis is forcing companies to reexamine their impact on society and their responsibility to all their stakeholders—employees, customers, communities, and partners alike. Companies are under immense pressure to respond quickly and many have already responded to their stakeholders' most urgent needs. But leaders also recognize the nature of the crisis requires a measured, strategic response that will define how they are remembered, as FSG’s co-founder Mark Kramer noted in HBR.

As companies are beginning to think about the medium- and longer-term phases of their responses to the crisis, FSG is publishing a series of blogs that build on the initial guidance from our co-CEO, Greg Hills. Below, we share a framework we’re using ourselves and with clients to help companies think more holistically about their response.

How can our company leverage our unique strengths to serve those most impacted by the crisis?

This deceptively simple question encapsulates the central considerations that should motivate a company’s response at this time. There are two core elements that should underpin every facet of your response:

  • Identify and focus on those most impacted among your stakeholders.
  • Leverage your unique strengths.

How companies respond to the crisis will depend on their industry, expertise, and geography. However, regardless of a company’s profile, it will be important for them to consider comprehensively how the crisis affects all of their stakeholders—employees, communities, customers, and partners. We’ve identified four principles companies should consider as they seek to better understand the impact of the crisis on their stakeholders.

  • Consider how your employees, communities, customers, and partners are affected at a time of crisis.
  • Apply an equity lens to identify those most impacted in each stakeholder group.
  • Identify areas of interaction within and between your stakeholder groups.
  • Listen and source ideas from different levels of your company and across stakeholders.

Read the full article about how companies can respond to COVID-19 by Nikhil Bumb and Chris Carlson at FSG.