Social Responsibility Policy

IABC/Toronto Chapter
Social Responsibility Policy

1.1 Summary of the Policy
The IABC/Toronto Social Responsibility (SR) Policy (“the Policy”) defines measures that ensure the chapter takes responsibility for the impact of its decisions and that all chapter activities are aligned with the chapter’s commitment to good governance, sustaining the environment, and making a meaningful contribution to the community.

1.2 Compliance with Local and International Standards
The Policy is intended to meet or exceed any legal or regulatory requirements that the chapter is bound to abide by, as well as policy/standards set by the chapter and by IABC World Headquarters, including, but not limited to:

• IABC/Toronto Constitution
• IABC Code of Ethics
• IABC Bylaws

1.3 Policy Scope
The Policy applies to everyone involved in making decisions or delivering work on behalf of IABC/Toronto, and/or who are involved in specific areas of the chapter’s operation and/or management:

• Executive Committee
• Board of Directors
• Portfolio Directors
• Committee Chairs
• Member volunteers who are involved in the organization/delivery of any IABC/Toronto work, activities, or materials, or in representing the chapter in any capacity

1.4 Policy Responsibilities

• The Executive Vice President is responsible for:
  • Oversight of the Policy and ensuring adherence.
• Ensuring the Policy is reviewed annually and updated accordingly to ensure it evolves appropriately as new SR challenges emerge. The next review will occur in April 2010.
• Raising SR awareness among chapter members and engaging members to ensure that the Policy continues to reflect their needs and concerns.
• The Director, Social Responsibility, is responsible for
• Formulating an annual SR program with specific goals and activities in support of the key themes outlined in the Policy.
• Monitoring SR performance and regularly reporting progress to members/other stakeholders.
• The Board of Directors of IABC/Toronto is responsible for:
• Approving updates to the Policy. The Board of Directors approved the Policy on March 11, 2009.
• The Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Portfolio Directors and Committee Chairs are responsible for:
• Integrating SR practices into all activities, processes, structures and resources.

Governance

IABC/Toronto is committed to ensuring the integrity and transparency of chapter and Board activities, and to respecting the rights and needs of members, through good governance and reporting.

As outlined in section 1.3, everyone involved in specific areas of IABC/Toronto’s operation and/or management must:

• Abide by all applicable local/international legal and/or regulatory requirements
• Act within the scope of his/her duties and delegated authorities
• Adhere to the IABC/Toronto Constitution as well as all governance guidelines and policies set out by IABC World Headquarters.

Compliance to these policies and other Board activities is overseen and ensured by a number of committees and individuals:

• Executive committee of the Board, made up of the president, immediate past president, executive vice-president, vice-president association management and vice-president finance.
• Vice-president accreditation & standards, responsible for professional standards and ethics.
• Executive vice-president, who also holds role of Chief Privacy Officer and is responsible for annually reviewing and updating IABC/Toronto’s by-laws, policy manual and constitution. The most recent review occurred in August 2007 and the next review will be conducted in May 2009.
• Office accountant for ongoing financial management (e.g., payments, monthly reconciliation).
• Review by external accountant of monthly financial statements, provided to VP Finance monthly. Year-end review by external chartered accountant of annual financial statements. Annual financial statements are made available to chapter members via the Annual Report and/or newsletter.

Key Performance Metrics:
To ensure transparency, information about board decisions and chapter financials are shared with members at the Chapter’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and via an Annual Report.

Environmental Policy

IABC/Toronto is committed to factoring environmental considerations into its activities and decisions and to responsibly managing both direct and indirect environmental impacts. We will minimize our impact on the environment by reducing the use of paper, maximizing electronic communications, and taking other actions that eliminate waste.

Print Materials:

• If paper must be used by the chapter, it should be printed double-sided and on recycled and/or FSC-certified paper.
• All print materials must also be made available in soft copy and/or online.
• Mailing materials are to be bundled to minimize envelope use.
• Specific to OVATION awards:
• Ovation award ‘Call for Entries’ are to be distributed online only.
• Award-winning entries are to be published online only.
• Additional specific goals relating to the ongoing reduction of paper usage are to be included in the SR Program each year.

Meetings & Events (i.e. professional development events, OVATION and other award/recognition ceremonies, board meetings, chapter-organized fundraising/social/networking/awareness activities):

• Locations are to be chosen to minimize the need to drive/maximize use of public transit.
• All meetings/events are to be announced/promoted electronically. Print materials may be created for promotion purposes only if enrollment is at levels deemed unacceptable by the portfolio VP. EVP approval is required for printing.
• Pens, writing paper and hardcopies of presentation materials must not be provided at events.
• Presentation materials are to be made available online for the benefit of attendees and all chapter members. Presenters must be actively discouraged from providing paper materials to session attendees.
• The use of bottled water is to be discouraged where possible at all chapter events.
• The carbon footprint of each event/meeting should be measured/tracked.

Vendor/Supplier Selection:

• Adherence to the following SR criteria will be considered when selecting vendors/suppliers:
• Use of materials that:
• Are locally and ethically produced/sourced
• Are reusable or biodegradable
• Are non-toxic
• The ability to track carbon footprint of products/services provided.

Member Encouragement and Recognition:

• Member excellence in work relating to the environment and SR will be recognized as part of the OVATION awards program and by other means as identified in the annual SR Program.

Community Betterment Policy

IABC/Toronto is committed to using its resources and expertise to make a meaningful difference in the community.

Membership Diversity:

• All chapter offerings must take into consideration a diversity of perspectives (i.e. gender, age, ethnicity, political affiliation, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, physical ability).

Donations:

• Donation(s) will be made annually to support the efforts of charitable/not-for-profit organizations within the community focused on helping groups/individuals improve communication/information comprehension skills. Specific goals relating to donations are to be included in the SR Program each year.

Contribution of skills & expertise:

• IABC/Toronto will make opportunities available to our members for volunteering their time and expertise to charitable/not-for-profit organizations (through CareerLine or other means).
• Presentations will be made annually to students and/or community organizations about the communication profession (specific goals are to be included in the SR Program each year).
• IABC/Toronto will hold at least one event annually focused on raising funds for and/or providing communications/professional expertise and advice to an identified charitable/non-for-profit organization(s).