List of Key Terms

With a growing number of companies investing in socially and environmentally sustainable practices, corporate citizenship has grown and diversified exponentially over its relatively short history. An overwhelming number of new terms and acronyms have become part of the lexicon of doing good. The following glossary gives you a quick reference guide for some of the more commonly used terms and acronyms.

Let’s start with what you may call your program. Here are some of the most commonly used terms:

• Corporate Citizenship

• Corporate Social Responsibility

• Corporate Responsibility

• Responsible Leadership

• Sustainability

• Social Investment

• Environmental, Social, and Governance

Try to resist the temptation to debate what your program should be called; the semantics are less important than the fact you have a program with clearly defined goals and objectives. Pick the terms that most connect to your company’s culture and intention, and then move ahead. We all know what you mean.

You need to know what the terms in this glossary mean, but they’re not the most important place to focus for effective programs. Don’t get distracted by the plethora of standards, frameworks, initiatives, and organizations. At the heart of your great corporate citizenship program are the issues most material to your company’s business strategy and purpose. One or more of the concepts and organizations described in the glossary may be helpful to your efforts. If they are, by all means avail yourself of their resources, but be selective.