• Ad Age, Friday, September 18, 2009 10:46 AM

Tim Sanders, author of the book Saving the World at Work and former chief solutions officer at Yahoo, writes that companies need to rethink their corporate social responsibility programs and says that partnering with nonprofits and government groups to help to solve society's problems can be "as good for the bottom line as it is for corporate karma."

Most current social responsibility efforts are hybrid PR/branding programs that live outside mainstream marketing efforts, according to Sanders. "Themes such as 'we're being less bad' or 'we're trying to give back' dominate the subtext and water down the potential marketing value of the exercise," he writes.

Citing successful efforts such as Aveda's joint venture with the Yawanawa tribe in Brazil and Office Depot's efforts with the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Sanders says "a positive feedback loop can be created where the company connects with cause, which inspires customers to connect with company."

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