FAST FACTS:

Crowdsourcing and METHODOLOGY

KRC Research surveyed 216 executives
in Fortune 2000 companies who have

Social Media in CSR

responsibility for philanthropic, social
responsibility or community outreach
within their organizations. The survey was
conducted via phone between October 6
and October 22, 2010. The margin of error
is +/- 6.8 percentage points at the
95 percent confidence level.

What is the value and impact of crowdsourcing in corporate ABOUT WEBER SHANDWICK
SOCIAL IMPACT
social responsibility (CSR)? How are social media tools shaping Weber Shandwick’s Social Impact practice
how companies engage consumers to provide ideas and help in builds insight-driven communications
decision-making on how to tackle issues and achieve goals? These programs to drive engagement on
pressing social issues. We partner with
questions are at the center of research the Weber Shandwick Social corporations, nonprofits and foundations to
Impact team conducted with KRC Research in October 2010 to gain develop strategic platforms and campaigns
that reach key audiences with resonant
new insights into the challenges and opportunities facing companies and actionable messages on corporate
in a changing CSR and communications landscape. social responsibility (CSR) and issues
spanning global development, education,
This fact sheet summarizes the key findings of our survey of more than 200 sustainability, human rights and more.
senior executives in large-sized companies with responsibility for philanthropy, We are story tellers, content creators
and advocates. The team combines the
social responsibility and community relations. It complements the findings our strength of Weber Shandwick’s public
team issued in December 2010, which explored why corporations invest in CSR affairs, corporate, consumer and digital
today, the role of nonprofit partners in CSR, and key success factors and lessons practices.
learned from recent efforts.
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
What we found is that a sizable percentage of companies we interviewed have PLEASE CONTACT:
used crowdsourcing and are actively using social media to communicate about PAUL MASSEY, 202.585.2799
pmassey@webershandwick.com
CSR programs. Results revealed that social media has proven to be an effective
means to engage diverse audiences and identify new perspectives, and has had STEPHANIE BLUMA, 202.585.2755
sbluma@webershandwick.com
a positive impact on reaching key stakeholders. Interestingly, we also saw strong
support for the idea that integrated communications programs combining social COLIN MOFFETT, 202.585.2045
cmoffett@webershandwick.com
media, community events, executive visibility and earned media continue to be
critical to building awareness and engagement for CSR efforts. VICTORIA SNEED, 202.585.2814
vsneed@webershandwick.com
To learn more, visit our Social Impact blog at: impact.webershandwick.com JONATHAN BENTLEY, 202.585.2732
jbentley@krcresearch.com

1 Corporate executives see the value of crowdsourcing in CSR efforts.

A sizable 44% of executives say their companies have used crowdsourcing to engage stakeholders
around CSR programs.
• An overwhelming majority (95%) of executives who have used crowdsourcing found it valuable.
• T
 he top reasons executives find crowdsourcing valuable are that it surfaces new perspectives and diverse opinions
(36%), and builds engagements and relationships with key audiences (25%).
• Interestingly, among those who have not yet used crowdsourcing, 43 percent anticipate that crowdsourcing could
be valuable to their future CSR efforts.
IMPLICATION: Crowdsourcing is an effective means to identify new perspectives and build relationships with key
audiences and should be explored as a means of engaging stakeholders around CSR efforts.
2 Social media is widely used in driving CSR initiatives.
Social media has become an important part of the mix when considering which channels to use to
communicate CSR efforts.
• M
 ost (72%) executives say that social media has been used to communicate about their organization’s CSR
efforts.
• Nearly 60 percent say social media has a positive impact on the quality of their communications with consumers.
IMPLICATION: Given the positive impact of social media, these channels should be strategic priorities for
communicating CSR efforts to stakeholders.

Social media tools engage stakeholders and expand

the reach of CSR efforts.
3
Executives believe the primary value of using social media tools to communicate around CSR programs is that they
create opportunities for companies to reach broad and diverse audiences (38%).
• A
 dditional benefits cited by executives include allowing companies to connect directly with consumers in low-cost,
efficient ways (29%) and enabling companies to engage specific constituencies with greater ease (11%).
• O
 f those who use social media tools, Facebook (67%) was named as the most valuable tool in engaging consumers
around a company’s CSR followed by blogs (60%), LinkedIn (58%), Twitter (46%) and FourSquare (44%).
IMPLICATION: CSR programs are likely to be increasingly characterized by creative efforts to engage consumers across
social channels, given their demonstrated value.

Companies see greater value from integrated CSR

4 communications programs.
Although 71% of executives say social media is an important communication channel to raise awareness of
CSR programs, they continue to see the value of other communications priorities as well.

• E
 xecutives cite community events (85%), executive
outreach (75%), and earned media (70%) as priorities for
raising awareness of CSR.
• W
 hen it comes to driving engagement with CSR, 83
percent of executives cite community events, 74 percent
executive outreach and 69 percent earned media.
IMPLICATION: Integrated communications matter – and
those companies that develop strategic programs featuring
social media, earned media, events and executive visibility
stand a better chance of getting their messages heard.

I M P A C T. W E B E R S H A N D W I C K . C O M facebook.com/WSSocialImpact @wssocialimpact