PR Daily’s 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards |

You’re leading the charge on diversity, organizational transparency, service learning, public health and education. We want to see how you promoted those efforts and how they’ve made a difference for your organization. This program features 21 categories, including two options for grand prize submissions: CSR Campaign of the Year and Agency of the Year.

Tell us how you got employees excited about volunteering. Share the results of a public health or safety initiative that educated your community and really made a difference. We want to see the events you executed in the name of a good cause. What press coverage were you able to land for a pro bono project?

We’re excited to honor the campaigns, programs and initiatives that are changing the world for the better. See a full list of categories and eligibility requirements. Then read how to enter below.

ENGAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

Media Relations or PR Campaign
Journalists, media outlets and your customers were proud to share the news of your corporate social responsibility initiative. How did you entice and inspire them to write features about your initiative and generate buzz? What resources did you provide for them to learn more about your cause and even get involved? What were your PR and media goals? Share the big-picture strategy, and break it down with metrics to prove its success.

Publication (Print or Electronic)
You created a publication that told the story of your quest for social good. Was it an email, newsletter, magazine or mailer? Tell us about the creative and content strategy and why it would appeal to your employees, stakeholders, community or the public. What was your strategy for getting the word out? How did you measure your success? Send screenshots, PDF versions and other creative assets to show it off.

Report (Annual or One Time) (Print or Electronic)
Your CSR campaign was a complete success, so you pulled together a report to show it off. How did you put the results on display in a captivating manner? Show us how you displayed your achievement with excellent writing, unique visuals and striking metrics. Send us the report and the positive responses it received.

Social Media Campaign
How did social media help you generate excitement about your corporate social responsibility initiative? How did it provide opportunities to get involved with your cause? What social media channels did you use? Did photos, videos or giveaways help you meet your goals? Share your campaign and its incredible results.

Stakeholder/Employee Engagement
Your employees and stakeholders drive the success of corporate social responsibility. How did you inspire them to get involved with your cause and tell others in their community about it? Show us how you turned them into ambassadors for your mission and how it affected the overall success of the program.

*NEW!* CSR Video or Visuals
Inspiring others to speak on behalf of your educational, environmental or health initiative calls for great visual storytelling. How did you use video or visuals to create a heartwarming, humorous or inspiring narrative? Did you interview those affected by the issue you want to spotlight? Did you create an infographic breaking down statistics about the problem? How did you share it? Provide us with the video or other visual element, and tell us about the results.

SOCIAL IMPACT

Cause Advocacy Campaign
You’re dedicated to a cause. You know the facts and statistics. You’re well versed in the available resources, but not everyone knows about the issue. So you raised awareness for an under-the-radar problem with a cause advocacy campaign. What did you do to make sure your message was heard? What channels did you use to distribute it, and whom did you target? What was the cause and what were your goals? Tell us how you got people talking about an oft-ignored issue and inspired them to get involved.

Community Affairs
Community members help your business thrive. You gave back to them with a community affairs campaign that addressed the issues that they care about. What problem were you hoping to solve or bring to light for your community? How did you contribute to eradicating it? Tell us how you worked together for the well-being of your community and how it affected your organization.

Corporate-Community or Nonprofit Partnership
Collaboration is the key to any successful partnership. You found a partner for a mutually beneficial relationship that also helps your community. Tell us how you chose your partner and how you worked together. How did their reputation enhance the work that you’re doing together? What were the results of this partnership?

CSR Event
Coordinating an event is a reliable way of drawing attention to a cause or campaign. Did you put together a fundraising event to collect donations for your cause, set up an awards gala to honor those making a difference in your community or celebrate the success of a recent cause-related campaign? How did you get journalists and local influencers to drum up enthusiasm for the event? What media outlets covered it? How did it effect your business?

Education or Scholarship Program
Tell us how your organization works to support education and scholarship within your community. Did you put together a scholarship program for students at a local school? Donate funds to an underserved school in your area? Provide additional training or scholarship opportunities to employees? Share your passion for education and scholarship, and tell us how it affected your business.

Fundraising and Philanthropic Initiative
Money makes the world go around, and no one knows that better than a nonprofit in need of donations. Tell us about the cause you wanted to raise money for and your strategy for collecting those funds. Did you put together an event or set aside funds each year to donate? How did you inspire others to give with an open heart? Tell us about the difference you’re making in your community and the world.

*NEW!* Global CSR Initiative
You dedicated yourself to an issue affecting the world, and thought beyond borders to lend a helping hand. Did you dedicate yourself to ending world hunger? Did your company seek solutions to the global water crisis? Why was it important to your organization to address an international issue? Tell us how you raised money or awareness or provided resources for those issues. How did that affect your business?

Public Health or Safety Initiative
Issues of public health and safety can profoundly affect your community. How did you create a beneficial CSR initiative that couldn’t be ignored? What issue(s) did you address? How did you educate people to help them develop healthier habits? Tell us how you made your community a better place. Include your relevant videos, contests and metrics.

BUSINESS PRACTICES

Employee Volunteer Program
Service learning can inspire and motivate employees. Why is that an important component of your business, and how has it made a difference for your organization and team? How did you recruit volunteers, and what project did you take on? Did employees take a day off to help build a house, volunteer at an animal shelter or plant an urban garden? Tell us how you inspired your team of volunteers. How has this affected employee recruitment and retention, along with your reputation in the community?

Green and Environmental Stewardship
Sustainability is a major pillar of your organization. Tell us why going green is important to you and what your goals are for reducing your carbon footprint. How did you educate your employees about environmental issues and inspire them to get on board? Did you start an in-office recycling program? Perhaps your organization made the switch to an alternative energy source—how did you do it? Let us hear how you transformed your business practices to preserve the health of our planet.

*NEW!* Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
Your organization prides itself on being a welcoming place for all. How did you work to eliminate conscious and unconscious bias and create a more inclusive work environment? Tell us about the programs you developed to make your organization a place that thrives on unique, diverse perspectives. Share how your business benefitted from your employee resource group, multicultural talent management initiative or training program.

Pro Bono Campaign or Project
Plenty of deserving clients just can’t afford a communications and PR overhaul. You offered your time and talents to a worthy client without asking anything in return. What challenges did you face during this pro bono project, and how did you overcome them? Let’s hear how you or your organization saved the day—at no cost to your client.

Organizational Transparency
Honesty is the lifeblood of your organization. How did you pull back the veil of corporate secrecy and put the heart of your organization on display? How did you address ethical issues and make changes that are important to your community? Tell us how open conversations and educating the public about products, services and business practices has made your organization a leader in your industry. How did this effect the reputations of your employees, stakeholders and customers?

GRAND PRIZE

CSR Campaign of the Year
Your CSR campaign outshone them all. What challenges stood in the way of your success, and how did you overcome them? Tell us about your CSR initiative and how you exceeded your promotional, recruitment or fundraising goals. Be sure to include measurable results.

Agency of the Year
Your agency is staffed by CSR experts who can expertly navigate initiatives and campaigns for clients. You’re surrounded by first-rate creatives and strategists who work diligently to make every campaign a success. Tell us about the impressive campaigns you pulled off and how they have elevated your client roster, talent pool and reputation as an agency.

Media Relations or PR Campaign Winner
Increasing Colorectal Screenings by Empowering Local Black Barbershops
Cigna

Publication (Print or Electronic) Winner
Your Community at Work
Community Medical Centers (Fresno CA)

Report (Annual or One Time) (Print or Electronic) Winner
Alliance Data Corporate Responsibility Report
Alliance Data

Social Media Campaign Winner
National Poison Prevention Week: Up & Away
SOMA Strategies & CHPA

Stakeholder Employee-Engagement Winner
RTI International Community Partnerships Program
RTI International

Cause Advocacy Campaign
Lights… Camera… Inclusion!
Burson-Marsteller

Community Affairs
20 Stories of Strength
Prudential

Corporate-Community or Nonprofit Partnership Winner
Witness the Power of Story
Viacom

CSR Event Winner
Caring for Our Coast
CITGO Petroleum Corporation

Education or Scholarship Program Winner
Reinventing the American High School
IBM with Ketchum

Fundraising and Philanthropic Initiative
Syrian Newcomer Transit Initiative
Toronto Pearson Airport

Public Health or Safety Initiative Winner
Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge
Toyota and Discovery Education

BUSINESS PRACTICES