The Good Corporate Citizen: A Practical Guide - Hardcover

Rubenstein, Doris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471475653 ISBN 13: 9780471475651

Publisher: Wiley, 2004

Synopsis

Corporate citizenship refers to the way a company integrates basic social values with everyday business practices, operations and policies. A corporate citizenship company understands that its own success is intertwined with societal health and well being. Therefore, it takes into account its impact on all stakeholders, including employees, customers, communities, suppliers, and the natural environment.

This handbook draws from the author?s experience crafting and implementing philanthropic and volunteer strategies with companies such as IBM, Exxon, Mobil, 3M, and General Mills. A step-by-step primer on creating a comprehensive corporate citizenship program, The Good Corporate Citizen lays out how companies can maximize this exciting new trend.

Doris Rubenstein (Minneapolis, MN) has worked for over 25 years with some of America?s most respected nonprofit organizations.

About this title

About the Author

Doris Rubenstein is the founder and Principal Consultant with PDP Services, a philanthropy advising and management firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Working as a fundraiser for more than twenty-five years, she gained experience in the philanthropic methods of such highly visible companies as IBM, ExxonMobil, 3M, and General Mills. A frequent speaker on the topic of corporate citizenship, Rubenstein teaches at Hamline University (St. Paul, Minnesota), as well as offers professional courses at Prosources. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Financial Planning, The Business Journal, Minnesota Business Magazine, Star Tribune, Trusts and Estates Magazine, Ventures, Law & Politics, and others.

From the Back Cover

Advance Praise for The Good Corporate Citizen

"Qualitative goals for an environment that sustains capital investment, rewards entrepreneurs, and promotes an educated and loyal workforce need to be set. Business can then determine how to improve the conditions upon which it relies for long-term profitability. Doris Rubenstein has given us a vision of those qualitative goals along with very practical suggestions for enlightened business self-interest."
―From the Introduction by Stephen B. Young
Global Executive Director, The Caux Round Table

"Doris Rubenstein’s book makes sound financial sense and should be a must-read for executives of all businesses, small and large alike. She exhibits an intimate understanding of the fiscal demands and corporate concerns of business owners when first establishing relationships with charities. Rubenstein presents a sensible, ethical, and effective approach to corporate philanthropy that is much needed in today’s world. If (small) businesses are the lifeblood of a community, her book is an important guide to how they can forge a partnership to achieve civic and cultural improvement and success."
―Russell Rothman, Executive Vice President
M. Rothman & Co, Inc.

"Organizations have a tendency to underestimate the value of incorporating a systematic, focused approach to practicing good corporate citizenship within their management system. This text offers a compelling philosophy, along with a practical approach to manage this important part of your management system."
―Gary D. Floss, Managing Director, BlueFire Partners
Board Member of American Society for Quality

From the Inside Flap

"The calculus by which business can measure the advantages of citizenship is not the normal market calculus of profit and loss on sales. The environmental factors supporting business are not easily converted into prices and many of them are not for sale."
From the Introduction by Stephen B. Young

The Good Corporate Citizen is a step-by-step guide to the best practices in corporate citizenship and, specifically, corporate philanthropy used by numerous top U.S. businesses. Through thought-provoking questions, examples, and case studies, author Doris Rubenstein advises company leaders on how to guide their companies through the process of making successful choices for administration, investment, and programs.

A fundraiser with more than twenty-five years of experience working with America s most respected nonprofit organizations, Rubenstein offers suggestions and identifies a variety of available options to help readers develop a corporate citizenship program that suits any size company s needs. Included checklists cover all the possible issues faced within any given field, and a wealth of examples and case studies illustrate how policies and procedures are practiced today.

The Good Corporate Citizen does not provide a cookie-cutter model or template to wedge into a company structure. It does present guidance for assessing all the choices any size company has to implement a corporate citizenship plan. Each chapter in Part II can be used as a point of departure for professional learning to fully prepare colleagues and employees to sufficiently address every situation they may encounter while getting a corporate citizenship program up and running.

The Good Corporate Citizen is written for real-world practice, making it an essential guide for CEOs, CFOs, and owners of mid-sized companies, as well as human resources directors, marketing directors, nonprofit fundraisers, chambers of commerce, and business associations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471475653
• ISBN 13: 9780471475651
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216