Writing A Check Is The Easy Part: Effective Corporate Social Responsibility Builds On Partnerships

By Andrew Plepler

At Bank of America, we’ve given fresh thought to the role we need to play in addressing social and economic challenges. Our purpose — to help make financial lives better for everyone we serve –has guided us over the past several years to change and make our company simpler and stronger, and it’s had a dramatic effect on our corporate social responsibility (CSR) philosophy.

No single person or entity has the expertise, resources or reach to address all of the challenges we face as a society. But given our size, scope and reach, we’re in a unique position to combine our resources with our partners’ expertise to make a real impact. Having previously approached CSR largely as a matter of philanthropy, we’ve realigned our priorities toward how we can use this combination of resources and expertise to drive change.

With polls showing that most Americans regard themselves as ill-equipped to handle their finances, we’ve identified an opportunity to educate those who are eager to learn. The challenge is in how to effectively reach people — to not only provide the resources for enhancing financial know-how, but also to connect people with information they need, when they need it.

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