3p Weekend: 10 CSR Trends to Watch Out for (And 9 to Ditch) in 2015

With a busy week behind you and the weekend within reach, there’s no shame in taking things a bit easy on Friday afternoon. With this in mind, every Friday TriplePundit will give you a fun, easy read on a topic you care about. So, take a break from those endless email threads, and spend five minutes catching up on the latest trends in sustainability and business.

To kick 2015 off right, this week TriplePundit hosted a Twitter chat to project the top sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) trends of 2015.

Joining us were Rebecca Caplan, director of the PwC Charitable Foundation (tweeting from @PwCFoundation), Shannon Schuyler, principal corporate responsibility leader at PwC and president of the PwC Foundation (@ShannonSchuyler) and Dave Stangis, chief sustainability officer for Campbell's Soup Co. (@DaveStangis).

Each of these thought leaders shared ideas that gained so much attention they made Tuesday's chat one of our most popular ever. In case you missed it, check out the top 10 trends our panelists and audience predicted for 2015. As an added bonus, scroll down to the bottom for nine irksome trends we can't wait to kiss goodbye this year.

1. Higher expectations for CSR pros

A5a #CR practitioners will need to be on their toes - constantly #learning - informing their company’s conscious. #pwcCR15

— Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

A5b #CR leaders are expected to deepen their #BusinessAcumen, #politicalsavvy and #negotiation skills daily. #pwcCR15

— Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

2. Action from the C-suite

A8a C-suite is key to ensuring education & integration of key stakeholders – from the board, to investors & to entire organization. #pwcCR15 — Shannon Schuyler (@ShannonSchuyler) January 6, 2015

A8b True #CR alignment and success comes when all stakeholders & employees (from top to base) have buy-in, contribute & participate #pwcCR15 — Shannon Schuyler (@ShannonSchuyler) January 6, 2015

+infinity RT @planamikebarry: @triplepundit #pwcCR15 C-Suite is vital. Sustainability must become a core competency of biz leaders. — Andrea Learned (@AndreaLearned) January 6, 2015

3. Mindfulness in management

#pwcCR15 2015 needs to get all minds & all hearts to the table for purposeful collaboration sans ego. #mindfulness in management. — Ellen Yui (@LNUE) January 6, 2015

4. Strategies designed with the company in mind

A6c - #CR pros can design strategies that fit their company vs. checking the box. #pwcCR15 — Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

5. Integrating sustainability into every department

A6a #Sustainability is becoming ingrained in the way companies operate. That’s a great win for #CR champions. #pwcCR15

— Shannon Schuyler (@ShannonSchuyler) January 6, 2015

A6b #CR & #sustainability efforts will get more attention & support b/c it’s clear how they help the bottom-line. #pwcCR15 — Shannon Schuyler (@ShannonSchuyler) January 6, 2015

6. The end of "the business case"

A6a Most #CR and #Sustainability pros should be able to dispose of the #BusinessCase exercise. Smart cos. get it by now. #pwcCR15 — Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

7. Engaging employees around responsibility

A5c The challenge in #CR is ensuring #employees feel tangibly connected to their company’s cause -- whatever it may be. #pwcCR15 — Shannon Schuyler (@ShannonSchuyler) January 6, 2015

8. Moving from cause marketing to social impact

A3b Moving from #CauseMarketing & nice #todos to #SocialImpact, comp. advantage, customers and sustainability in the #ValueChain. #pwcCR15 — Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

9. Digitization forcing adaptation

A4a 2015 will bring pervasive digitization to the social economy and again, nonprofits will be challenged to redefine themselves. #pwcCR15 — PwC Foundation (@PwCFoundation) January 6, 2015

A4b New types of socially-minded orgs (both for & nonprofit) will become the norm & digital data and infrastructure will be shared. #pwcCR15 — PwC Foundation (@PwCFoundation) January 6, 2015

A4c Foundations need to articulate how their value is unique from CR activities & utilize resources so efforts are complementary. #pwcCR15

— PwC Foundation (@PwCFoundation) January 6, 2015

10. The (slow) rise of integrated reporting

A7a We’ll continue to see integrated reporting, but the audience is still very small. #pwcCR15

— Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

A7b Companies and #CR pros really need to think about their audience(s) and build communication/reporting strategies to match. #pwcCR15

— Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) January 6, 2015

9 trends to ditch in 2015

Of course, there are a few trends we won't be sorry to bid farewell in 2015. Earlier this week, Henk Campher of Edelman rounded up nine of these oh-so-over trends to keep you in the loop. From companies setting far-off, intangible goals to claiming sustainability is "in their DNA," here's to hoping these cringe-worthy trends are history by Q2.

Mary Mazzoni is the Senior Editor of TriplePundit. You can follow her on Twitter @mary_mazzoni.