What is Social Responsibility?

What does social responsibility mean? What does it mean for a company or corporation to be socially responsible?

The term ‘social responsibility’ may be a buzzword that you haven’t really thought about. It sounds good, sure, but its meaning is pretty important when choosing who to do business with. Money is a social contract: you give money to ‘someone’ (a person or company) in exchange for something you want more. But what happens after that?

Here are some questions to consider in every exchange you make:

• What is it you want? A trip? A car? An education?
• Do you think about what the person you’re paying has done or is going to do with your money after the exchange?
• Does it matter to you what they do with it?

What if they were using the profit from a product to, for a more extreme example, fund a human trafficking operation? Or to sway an election? Would you care then? Probably. But while most people and companies are not doing something nefarious or criminal with the profits they earn, you would still hope they were paying their workers fair wages, improving the quality of their products, and even perhaps giving back to the community in some ways.

Social Responsibility is About Accountability

Social responsibility refers to the way we use the power of our money to not only increase the profit of a business or to get what we want, but to contribute to the welfare of society and the environment. While “cancel culture” can often be taken to extreme measures, it’s absolutely true that if we choose not to make exchanges with people or organizations that don’t align with what we believe to be right or beneficial, we can collectively enforce accountability for what is done with our hard-earned money.

What does a company do with their waste? Do they recycle? Give to the poor? Create business opportunities for others?

One of the best ways we can practice personal social responsibility is how we dispose of used household goods. Rather than waste something that still holds value to someone else, give it to charity instead.  The perfect example is car donation, like Kidney Kars of Utah. 

How Charitable Giving Aligns with Social Responsibility

When a car has come to the end of it’s mechanical road, so to speak, what should you do with it? You could get a few hundred dollars by selling it for junk. But does the junk yard responsibly contain the Freon, used motor oil, anti-freeze, and brake fluid? Did you accidentally get some money in exchange for worse air and water quality in your community?  That is the opposite of social responsibility.

Why waste, or worse, profit when you have the opportunity to give back? If you’re not certain how to dispose of an old car, donating a car feels is the right thing to do. You are sharing used goods with the needy, instead of throwing them away. Charities who operate locally, like the National Kidney Foundation of Utah’s Kidney Kars program, are likely to only do business with wrecking yards who recycle responsibly. The charity’s reputation depends on it. Besides, they live in the same community you do.

Charities by design benefit the needy in your community with the funds raised from your car donation. Kidney Kars both sells and recycles vehicle donations responsibly. You can feel good about giving funding to local kidney patients in medical and financial need. The towing is free, and you’ll even get a little money back as a tax deduction.

How Kidney Kars Aims to Practice Social Responsibility

Kidney Kars strikes a perfect equilibrium between social responsibility and charitable giving. Donating a car is personal social responsibility at its best. When we gift, instead of waste (or profit) by donating used items to charity, we give the gift of our example to our children: Waste not, want not. That too, is the power of our dollar. 

By donating your old car to Kidney Kars of Utah, you can be assured that your car will either be sold or recycled responsibly. Eighty-three cents of every dollar raised through your car donation helps Utah kidney patients struggling to pay for real medical emergencies, including the cost of doctors, pharmacies, transportation, housing, and proper nutrition. 

Donating a used to Kidney Kars of Utah car reduces waste and benefits your community through the work and mission of The National Kidney Foundation of Utah, an organization you can both trust and respect.

To Learn more about the car donation process, take a look at the topics below:

• Why Should I Donate My Car to Charity?
• How to Donate a Car
• How Does The National Kidney Foundation Pickup Work?
• How to Find a Reputable Car Donation Charity