News Flash: Points of Light Partners with NCoC, Bloomberg News to Launch Civic 100

Points of Light has partnered with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) to launch The Civic 100, a national initiative to survey, rank and recognize corporations on how they engage the communities they serve and institutionalize these practices as part of their corporate culture. Bloomberg News, one of corporate America’s most respected sources of business and financial information, will serve as The Civic 100’s media partner in this endeavor.

“The business sector plays a critical role in promoting civic engagement. The Civic 100 will not only acknowledge corporate leadership in service, but encourage companies to find new ways to build and strengthen their communities,” said Neil Bush, Points of Light’s board chairman. “The Civic 100 will showcase innovation, honor those serving as stewards of their community and create an incentive to create change.”

The Civic 100 isn’t the first effort to track corporate social responsibility, but it is the first initiative to implement a scientific approach to measuring and evaluating corporate civic engagement.

A recent CSR Perception Survey conducted by Penn Schoen & Berland found that 40 percent of respondents were willing to take a pay cut to work at a socially responsible company, and 72 percent would sacrifice spending or salary to support corporate social responsibility initiatives. The same survey found that 75 percent of consumers say corporate responsibility is important to them, and they are more likely to purchase products or services from a company after reading its responsibility agenda.

“As a company committed to global sustainability, Bloomberg is proud to partner with NCoC and Points of Light to produce The Civic 100 survey,” said Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Bloomberg L.P.’s Sustainability Group. “Corporations are increasingly adopting business practices that reflect their commitment to community engagement, yet there has been little formal recognition of these efforts.”

The Civic 100 survey is available to S&P 500 companies at www.Civic100.org now through July 31. Responses will be used to generate an overall composite score, resulting in a rank ordered 1-to-100 list to be published in Bloomberg Businessweek in mid-November.

To learn more about The Civic 100 survey as well as the importance of civic engagement in corporate America, please visit www.Civic100.org.