Ideas in Action

Reputation Matters: When Should Your Organization Take a Stance?

Reputation Matters: When Should Your Organization Take a Stance?

Based on the Insights of Ernest Duplessis

Written by Aimee Levitt

In recent years, many corporate and nonprofit organizations across the United States have been eager to align themselves with social causes to address social unrest either at home or abroad, even when their organizations’ missions have no obvious connection to these causes. Organizations have been quick to make statements through press releases, social media posts, ad campaigns and stakeholder emails simply because it feels like the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, doing the “right thing” has backfired in many cases. Leaders have discovered that, while they may support a particular cause, the organization’s stakeholders don’t always agree. It’s natural for an organization to want to take a public position on social issues, says Ernest Duplessis, lecturer at the Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University. “This is the landscape we’re living in,” he says.

But should they?

Before an organization decides to take a public stance on an issue, Duplessis advises that its leaders do a cost-benefit analysis.

“Many people who think about this topic try to solve for the variable of ‘What’s the most important thing?’” he says. “For some, it’s revenue. For some, it’s donors. For me, the question we’re really solving for when we’re asking, ‘Should we take a public position?’ is the reputation of the organization.”

Reputation Matters

Although brand and reputation are very similar, they’re not the same. A brand is a symbol and a promise of the sort of quality a client, customer or donor can expect; it’s created by the organization itself. Reputation, on the other hand, is how an organization is perceived in keeping its brand promises. And increasingly, says Duplessis, this is moving beyond services and products into corporate citizenship and social responsibility. Even if those promises are never explicitly made, stakeholders assume that they were and want to know they can trust the organization.

Does Taking a Stance Make Sense?

The main questions every organization should ask before taking a public stance, says Duplessis, are:

1. Will taking a public position or not taking a position on a given issue enhance, protect or damage the organization’s reputation with key stakeholders?

2. Is the issue or the cause directly related to the organization’s mission, vision, values or culture? If the answer is yes, then having a position makes sense.

When Duplessis worked at the snack company Mondelēz International, Inc., the company paid a lot of attention to issues of cocoa growing, including whether the growing practices used were sustainable. Since water usage falls under the umbrella of sustainable agriculture, it would make sense for Mondelēz to take a stand on water conservation.

If your organization decides to take a position on a particular issue, Duplessis offers four strategies to consider:

1. Address the Larger Underlying Causes

Rather than make a specific statement, it is best to address the larger underlying causes of a particular issue. For example, rather than condemn police violence or a particular police department after an incident of police brutality occurs, organizations can choose to focus on the larger issue of human rights. This way, it is not obligated to speak out in every single instance.

2. Team Up

Sometimes there is strength in numbers, especially if every organization in your niche is taking the same stance. “You can take a position as an organization by signing onto a document or legislation that clearly articulates where you stand without you having to be the poster child,” Duplessis says. For example, a group of environmental nonprofits might sign a letter to the government urging a specific bill be passed. The fact that potential competitors saw that an issue was important enough that they decided to put their differences aside to work together shows how serious they are.

Working with a national association or network organizations such as the National Council of Nonprofits can also be helpful: These groups have often already researched the issue and can provide the necessary background.

3. Plan For the Worst-Case Scenario

Duplessis recommends that organizational leaders get external assistance when deciding whether to make a public statement. “Don’t just depend on you understanding your organization, understanding the issue, or your organization understanding the position that you want to take. Try to get some outside perspectives to answer that particular question.”

He also suggests thinking through and simulating every possible response, from the best-case scenario to the worst. For example:

• Will taking a stand lose you donors or offend key board members?
• Will employees be able to point to organizational policies or practices that directly contradict the message you’re trying to send?
• And if the worst happens, are you willing to live with it?

4. Issuing the Statement

First, says Duplessis, it pays to follow the four C’s of communication: make it clear, concise, consistent, and credible. Next, do your research on the issue, and bring in third parties to help you understand all perspectives, especially those contrary to your position. Establish your communication objective and be clear about what you’re trying to accomplish: Do you want to inform, persuade or motivate people to change their behavior?

Finally, plan ahead. “Most of these issues that flare up,” he says, “these are things that are knowable before they’re really fever pitch.”

And in that way, although an organization is responding to current events, they still maintain control of their message — and their reputation.

Ernest Duplessis is a current lecturer at the Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management and a former professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at the Medill School at Northwestern University. His career includes over 25 years of Public Relations, Internal and External Communications, Investor Relations and Government Affairs experience spanning corporate America and the U.S. Military. He currently runs his own Strategic Communications agency and leads a nonprofit organization in Illinois.