CSR stamp of approval

10% Solution founder Jamie Welsh

During her career in marketing, Jamie Welsh says she saw her fair share of greenwashing and “giving-washing,” in corporate America.

So she decided to try to find a solution—a 10% Solution, to be exact. That’s the company she founded in 2007 to develop a third-party certification system for companies’ triple-bottom-line efforts.

But Welsh, who says she approaches sustainability from “a world of business, not activism,” in addition to verifying and measuring a company’s corporate social responsibility efforts, aims to help businesses maximize the impact of their philanthropic spending. 10% Solution matches businesses with nonprofits and charities that are in keeping with their business strategy. Developing those relationships and marketing them attracts consumers, the company says. 

Based in Dana Point, 10% Solution offers both CSR consulting and certification for large and small businesses. Similar to nonprofit B Corporation Inc., 10% Solutions ensures certified companies meet a set of criteria. But while B Corporation looks at a broad range of criteria, such as corporate governance rules, 10% Solution focuses on three drivers of corporate social responsibility, Welsh says. Companies, which pay a certification fee based on their annual revenues, must commit 1 percent of sales to philanthropic giving; maintain a managed employee volunteer program; and make an environmental sustainability commitment, evidenced by participation in an industry-relevant program, such as the U.S. Green Building Council or the National Organic Program.

Once they get certified, companies show documentation of their ongoing efforts quarterly for the first year, then annually.
Launched with angel investor funds, 10% Solution began certifying companies in 2008 and has certified 13 companies far, with about 15 more going through the process. The company aims to end the year with 100 certified companies, which Welsh says is a conservative goal, even in the current economic climate.

From her vantage point, Welsh says she hasn’t seen that the recession is hampering businesses’ interest in corporate social responsibility.

“I think this is driving companies to figure out how to operate their business smarter,” she says. That could mean savings through energy efficiency or waste management measures, or strategically aligning corporate philanthropy with customers’ perceived values.

“Sustainability is at the heart of some true cost savings,” she says.