ABSTRACT
Marcus Delerton, senior vice-president of Community Benefit, Research and
Health Policy at Solutions Care Association, understood the challenges facing the
organization in terms of corporate social responsibility (for organizational chart see
Exhibit 1). It was a mid-size nonprofit health care organization which was quickly
growing in the United States and was widely considered an emerging leader in the
environmental area with its initiatives around phasing out toxic chemicals, investing
in clean energy and promoting disease prevention. The company was deeply involved
in numerous community benefit initiatives and programs and its employees were
highly engaged in volunteering and proud to support its mission. But there
was limited awareness internally and externally about all social and environmental
initiatives, which were often neither aligned nor well communicated. Delerton
realized that developing an integrated strategy and becoming more transparent about
Solutions Care Association’s social and environmental performances were critical
for maintaining the organization’s reputation as an imminent leader in corporate
social responsibility (CSR) and protecting its nonprofit status. At the same time,
he knew that without developing an integrated CSR strategy and setting specific
goals and targets, a CSR report would have limited value to the company’s internal
and external stakeholders.
