Focus On A Cause Relevant To Your Business

BY / DAVID TOVAR GRUBHUB

Over the past several decades, corporate America settled on a common understanding that businesses must deliver more than shareholder value. Survey after survey has shown that executives, employees and customers are all aligned on the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In recent years, especially over the last two, businesses and particularly CEOs increasingly have felt pressured to take public positions on social issues.

To some extent, this is morally and ethically right. With power and profits comes responsibility. Somewhere along the way, however, in an attempt to appease stakeholders, companies stopped communicating about the most relevant values and started engaging in performative PR. CEOs and the brands they lead now go far beyond justifiably weighing in on the social causes that impact their respective businesses, commenting on every single issue or crisis du jour. But to what end? In my career, I have led corporate communications and CSR teams for many consumer-facing brands; advising leaders how and when to use their voice and the company brand to weigh in on myriad issues. A huge part of that process is being aware of and asking questions about the broader context — across the business, around the country, within specific communities and for individual consumers. There’s a laundry list of questions that might apply, including: • How does this issue impact our business, employees and customers? • Will taking a position/providing support (or staying silent) help/hurt the business? • How do we effectively evaluate when and how to take action? • If we decide to weigh in or provide support, how do we strike the right tone in our messaging? • How do we ensure meaningful impact towards social change?

Most importantly, just because a cause is culturally or politically relevant at the moment, does not mean that the business is required to take a position, especially as the U.S. remains at a polarized peak. As Blackrock CEO Larry Fink said in his 2022

David Tovar is the senior vice president of communications and government relations at Grubhub. He is a member of the Arthur Page Society and the USC Annenberg Center for PR Board of Advisors.

letter to CEOs, “They [stakeholders] don’t want to hear us, as CEOs, opine on every issue of the day, but they do need to know where we stand on the societal issues intrinsic to our companies’ long-term success.”

A communicators’ priority is to be aware of how social causes may impact stakeholders. Be flexible and evolve your PR and CSR approaches as the priorities of the general public, specific constituencies and individual consumers change. One of the functions I oversee at Grubhub is philanthropy and community impact. Grubhub launched its Donate the Change program in 2018, allowing diners to round up their bill and give all proceeds to No Kid Hungry — because food insecurity is highly relevant for our business. Two years later, COVID-19 lockdowns took an enormous toll on restaurants — one of Grubhub’s most important stakeholder groups — causing the philanthropic focus to evolve. The Grubhub Community Fund has enabled $30 million in grants to independent restaurants.

With a strong philanthropic foundation in place, we have an opportunity to evolve, yet again, to be more strategic and responsive to stakeholder needs. So, we’re currently asking ourselves which social causes are most relevant to Grubhub and we are uniquely positioned to address.

For one, how can Grubhub’s technology and network of restaurants and nonprofits help close the increasingly widening hunger gap? COVID-19 shined a light on food insecurity in America, and caused the number of food insecure individuals to spike. According to Feeding America, the number of people who faced food insecurity rose from 35 million in 2019 to more than 50 million by the end of 2020. These are people from all walks of life, in every community across the country.

Even as we exit the pandemic, the problem is only getting worse; exacerbated by the intermingled issues of war, inflation, extreme weather events and supply chain disruptions. The head of the United Nations warned: “This year’s food access issues could become next year’s global food shortage. No country will be immune.”

And, as the gig economy continues to boom, how can philanthropy support our delivery partners? So we’re surveying our drivers and meeting with driver advocacy groups to gain insights that will inform partnerships in the coming months.

This never-ending process of responding to the changing world is what makes our profession so dynamic and exciting. It’s what keeps me interested in my job day in and day out. And, the ability not just to adapt but to thrive on change while maintaining the ability to focus on the client’s or business’ core mission and values, is what makes a good communicator a great one. ▪