With consumers becoming more aware of social and environmental issues, many companies are finding that they can do well by doing good.

More and more, businesses are defining themselves as “socially responsible” by implementing policies that help the environment, contributing a percentage of revenues to a cause or building awareness of social issues. For some, it’s marketing pure and simple, but for many, such practices are the result of a company’s genuine commitment to change. These hybrid businesses fall somewhere between pure bottom-line enterprises and not-for-profits and are sometimes referred to as “double-bottom-line” companies, since their performance is measured not only in profit but in other achievements—such as social or environmental goals—as well.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, there has been some skepticism about just how committed a company might be to the issues it promotes. According to Business Week, several organizations have sprung up to address these concerns. One approach, by REDF, is to evaluate companies according to the actual economic value of its initiatives, a sort of social return on investment. Another, from the Global Reporting Initiative in Amsterdam, assesses companies for their economic, social and environmental performance.

B Lab, a nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania, has established a “B Corporation” certification, allowing businesses to define themselves as socially responsible to consumers, investors and other businesses. To be certified as a B Corporation, businesses must first complete questionnaires that address practices, profits and products. The questions (of which these are just a sample) are worthwhile even if you’re not planning on becoming B-certified:

• Have you specifically integrated social or environmental performance into your company’s written corporate mission?
• What percentage of expenditures is directed towards independent local suppliers?
• Is there an active effort to recruit people from previously excluded populations?
• Is there an employee retirement plan?
• What percentage of full-time employees has ownership or stock options in the company?
• What percent of net profits is given to charitable organizations?
• Do you deliver beneficial products or services?
• What types of beneficial methods of production or service delivery do you use?

Additional resources are available through Columbia Business School Research Initiative on Social Entrepreneurship and Co-op America, a Washington, D.C., group that links green businesses with one another.

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