Call For Entries: Fourth Annual Social Innovation Awards to Showcase Leading CSR and Sustainability Efforts and Initiatives

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Northampton, MA - September 6, 2011 - The 2012 Social Innovation Awards present a forum for companies to highlight their latest practical applications for advancing social and environmental responsibility and innovation throughout their organizations.

Since the Social Innovation Awards launched in early 2009, they have recognized companies that have implemented groundbreaking strategies and programs that drive social and environmental responsibility and innovation. The response from the business community has been overwhelming: over 40% of the Fortune 100 participated in the last awards program. Previous winners include Thomson Reuters Foundation, SAP, S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Nokia, Cisco Systems, Novo Nordisk, Herman Miller, Inc., Gap Inc., Better World Books, amongst other leading companies and organizations.   Applications for the awards may be submitted beginning September 1 and the application period will run through November 30, 2011. Applications are available at www.socialinnovationawards.com and by emailing innovation@justmeans.com. Applicants are welcome to submit multiple applications across all categories.   The categories for the upcoming Social Innovation Awards include:   Finance: Best Social Investment Strategy – This award will recognize the company with the best social investment strategy, a concept that refers to the ways companies invest their financial assets in order to advance causes or programs that have both social and financial returns.   Human Resources: Best Employee Engagement Strategy - This award will go the company that demonstrates the best communications strategy and/or program for activating employees to become involved in corporate sustainability.   Marketing and Communications: Best Use of New Media - This category will award the company that has demonstrated the best use of new media, including gaming, location, social media, listening platforms, crowdsourcing, and mobile devices to advance social and environmental change. This award will apply to both companies and particular brands within companies.   Marketing and Communications: Best Integrated Report - This award category will showcase the company that has done the most to integrate social and environmental assets and liabilities into a seamless combined financial and non-financial report. While the field of integrated reporting remains nascent, this category will award the company that has made the most progress in integrating financial and non-financial performance indicators.   Marketing and Communications: Best Online Report - This award will go to the company that has created the best online and informative experience around a sustainability, CSR, ESG, or integrated “report”.   Marketing and Communications: Best Stakeholder Engagement – This award will go to the company that can best demonstrate how its corporate strategy engages stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement involves the methods by which companies participate in multi-way communications with key influencers in their business, including investors, activists, employees, customers or government bodies. Many companies make commitments to stakeholder engagement but often fail to act on the priorities of stakeholders. Companies that wish to win this award should showcase a particular example (or series of examples) of how the company has changed corporate strategy as a direct response to stakeholder input.   Operations: Best Sustainability Performance Award - This award will go to the company that has made the most substantial gains in reducing its “footprint” over the past twelve months while maintaining financial performance.   Product: Best Product Design – This award will go to the company that has developed best green product. New green products involve innovations in product design and efficiency that helps to maintain sustainability throughout the product life cycle.   Product: Best Incorporation of Ethical Sourcing/Certification - The award will go to the company that has made the most integrated and substantial commitment to ethically sourced materials, ingredients, etc. This award will be open to both companies and particular brands.   Philanthropy: Most Strategic Use of Philanthropic Funds - Strategic philanthropy entails the contribution of money or time to causes that align with company operations, such that giving also contributes to the industry's sustainability.   Winners of the main categories will be selected by a panel of judges who have expertise in the areas of corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and social innovation. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Spring 2012.   About Justmeans (@Justmeans) Justmeans is the world’s leading source of information and connections for the sustainable business industry. Founded in 2008, the company rapidly grew its online community of practitioners, investors, journalists, activists, and students to 250,000 registered users. A wide variety of companies rely on Justmeans news distribution services to create, distribute, and analyze performance on media releases related to social and environmental performance. Justmeans is a subsidiary of 3BL Media, LLC. http://justmeans.com.   JM16575