Risk Management’s New Tool: Corporate Social Responsibility

Executive Summary

Cooperative governance. Member-centric decisions. Strong and authentic ties to their communities. All credit unions exhibit these and other facets of corporate social responsibility (CSR)—it is core to their DNA and their reason for being. Many credit unions now also proactively manage the CSR aspect of their business, in order to achieve greater impact, attract members and employees, reduce costs, grow revenues, and build their brand and competitive differentiation. But while CSR is laudable and worth pursuing for its own sake, we seek to understand other ways it can contribute to the success of credit unions and their members.