Doing Good by Doing Good: Law Firm Social Responsibility
Companies are increasingly adhering to the principle of corporate social responsibility. CSR is based on the belief that a show of concern for the environment, human rights, community development, and the well-being of your employees can make a company more profitable. And if not more profitable, at least a better place to work.
Law firms can learn from business experience to create their own social responsibility programs. These programs can help law firms do good by doing good. They can strengthen the reputation of the company and its position in the market. They can help the company identify with the CSR culture and activities of potential customers and clients. They can help attorneys and staff find more meaning in their work and improve as human beings.
In the words of the Karma Committee on Social Responsibility at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck: Be nice. Be generous. Be worried. Donate time. Donate effort. Donate money. Just find a cause and give. You will quickly discover that giving is also receiving.
A panel discussion on how law firms can learn about CSR and introduce some of its elements into their own models was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association. The program took place on May 8 at Maggiano’s Little Italy in downtown Denver.
Panelists included Sarah Hogan, Vice President of Barefoot PR; Bruce DeBoskey, attorney and founder of The DeBoskey Group, which focuses on philanthropic counseling; Joyce Witte, Community Investment Advisor and Director of the Encana Cares Foundation, Encana Oil & Gas (USA); and Amy Venturi, director of community relations and karma at Brownstein. The moderator was Cori Plotkin, president of Barefoot PR.
At law firms, the product is the people: the attorneys and support staff who provide high-quality legal services. It’s an easy fit. There are many ways this ‘product’ can bring time, talent and treasure to socially responsible activities.
Social responsibility: approach and strategy
Law firm social responsibility is about making a difference within the community and profession, and within a firm. Even the best efforts will have no impact if they spread too thin. You cannot maximize the value of your contributions or tell your story if your efforts are too watered down. To decide how to invest its resources most effectively, a law firm needs a social responsibility approach and strategy.
Social responsibility efforts must be authentic. Law firms and other entities should always avoid ‘greenwashing’ – telling a story that is aspirational, but is not really true. Know yourself. Let the culture and unique skills of your company determine which efforts to make and which to avoid.
When examining your culture, don’t limit yourself to the opinions of your partners. Law firms are small communities, almost like families. Any effort to define culture and social responsibility must represent not only the interests of attorneys, but also the interests of all levels of support staff. Efforts must be significant across the company. The benefits to employee hiring, retention, and satisfaction can be remarkable.
DeBoskey described three types of community engagement and stated that he believes that a good social responsibility plan includes elements of all three.
In a traditional model, an organization randomly ‘gives back’ to the community when asked, as a good citizen, rather than for strategic purposes. In a social responsibility model, these efforts are aligned with the capabilities of the company, such as the legal skills of attorneys. Every non-profit organization needs legal advice.
In its most sophisticated form, a social responsibility program involves using its core product, legal services, as a tool for social change. Volunteer with organizations like the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver or the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center.
A strong focus makes it much easier to make decisions. Encana, for example, focuses its charitable giving strategy on issues related to its product: natural gas. Brownstein will donate money only if the request comes from a client or if one of their attorneys is a member of the organization and is on the board.
Law firms seeking additional advice can find valuable resources within the Corporate Community Investment Network. CCIN is an association of professionals whose primary responsibility is to manage community investment programs in a for-profit business environment.
Many corporations and some law firms have created separate foundations to manage some of their donations. A foundation comes with more restrictions and different tax methods. However, as entities with a life of their own, foundations are more likely to continue a useful existence than one-off efforts.
Social responsibility: good policies make good decisions
Strategy and approach lay the foundation for an effective social responsibility policy. Most law firms are inundated with good cause requests asking for your support. A policy helps you know when to say “yes” and when to say “no.”
In the law firm model, where all partners are owners with a sense of entitlement to resources, it can be very difficult to say no. A very focused policy makes it much easier to do so and keep the company’s efforts on track.
Encana, for example, uses a five-step tool to determine the level of fit between a request and the company’s strategic objectives in the natural gas field, with level five being the largest commitment and level one the lowest.
Level Five Efforts integrate core product or service and they often involve natural gas vehicles and energy efficiency initiatives that use natural gas. These efforts contribute to industry-leading trends and best practices, while enhancing the company’s reputation as a leader.
Level four efforts focus on strategic partnerships and they often involve long-term, sustainable solutions such as workforce development initiatives, unique programs (which may be replicated in other markets), and multi-year grants.
Tier Three Efforts Include Strategic Grants to assist with projects, programs or initiatives carried out to local non-profit organizations aligned with natural gas.
Level two efforts include responsive giving, which is a one-time gift for a broad community effort that has local support. The participation of company representatives is required.
Tier one efforts Include the “T-shirt and Banner” category, which contains day-long items such as dinners, receptions, golf tournaments, events, and races. These offer the least impact and awareness for the money and therefore the least support.
At Brownstein, requests made to the firm are judged on two factors. The firm considers only requests made by clients and requests made by organizations where one of its attorneys participates at the board level.
Social responsibility: Commitment
Effective social responsibility programs involve not only checkbook involvement, but personal and professional involvement as well.
At Brownstein, the brand has always been about being in the community. Six years ago, Venturi was asked to formalize this essential component of the firm’s culture into a social responsibility program that would further energize attorneys.
He began by spending 15 minutes with each of the attorneys to discover their passions, which were used to identify a good nonprofit match. After all, attorneys and staff will stay involved and do their best only when an organization is something they care deeply about. If there is no compromise, the location will backfire.
Finally, Venturi offers the services of the attorney to the nonprofit in some way, but it must be at the board level. Otherwise, she will not make the match.
Project Karma is a Brownstein program dedicated to volunteer opportunities and maintains a committee in each of the firm’s 12 offices. Sponsor informal lunch and learning presentations from local nonprofits to build interest.
The message about the active involvement of attorneys and staff must come from above. Brownstein makes it very clear that the path to society for a new attorney is based not only on legal skills, but also on commitment and involvement with the community.
It’s important to add a community engagement component to attorney reviews, even if it’s just one goal per year. That lets the attorneys know that you mean business. The Colorado Supreme Court asks each attorney to contribute 50 hours of pro bono work every year. The integration of these programs leads to beneficial results for the company.
Not all firms can match the efforts of a large company like Encana or a large law firm like Brownstein. However, there are good options for businesses of all sizes. Again, it’s all about focus.
In fact, it is far easier to get five members of a small firm to focus on a strategic initiative than it is to get 500 attorneys at a large firm. If a law firm has $ 10,000 to donate, that money is spent a lot on the parent and has much more impact on an organization than donations of $ 100 spread across 100 organizations.
Smaller law firms can also multiply their impact by partnering with others in an industry, such as suppliers or clients, to support a particular nonprofit organization.
Social responsibility: return on investment
Companies measure the results of their social responsibility programs and use these results to make decisions about future efforts. Law firms should do the same.
At the end of the year, Encana uses its five-tier model (schematic above) to analyze our charitable giving. How much was given at each level? The company then sends a form to each nonprofit, asking the recipient to rate results (statistics of what was achieved), process (the efforts reached the intended audience) and impact (what a difference it made).
Encana asks recipients to respond within 60 days and uses this information to calculate the return on investment. Those who do not report are not eligible to receive further contributions. Nonprofits may complain at first, but they seem to change their minds once they’ve gone through the process, discovering that it has useful strategic value.
It is entirely appropriate to ask a nonprofit organization to document the results they have achieved based on your contribution. It lets them know that you are truly committed to the organization. They will see you more as partners and engage you differently.
Most companies have created and benefited from well thought out and strategic social responsibility programs. Law firms are beginning to do the same. A program with a strict focus and strict guidelines guarantees maximum impact and awareness in exchange for a law firm’s commitment of time, talent, and treasure.