Perhaps it is not surprising for a conference in San Francisco, with Silicon Valley so close by, and "Multi-media Gulch" just a few blocks away from the conference hotel, in the city centre. But the key message for me from the 1999 BSR annual conference was the way that the Internet is changing CSR - just as it is changing all other aspects of business life.

Most obviously, there were far fewer physical brochures and reports to carry back to London - and far more references to the websites of conference speakers; or speakers sending on their powerpoint presentations via e-mail after the event.

BP Amoco's David Rice in a session on social & environmental reporting, announced that their report will be Internet-based from March 2000. David sees this as what analysts and stakeholders will expect; and being an essential sine qua non for a future which combines local reporting plus global reporting on the totality of BP Amoco's impact in more than 150 different countries. They will start with sixteen country reports. In the same session, Shell's Tom Delfgauw said that their Internet site is getting 3,000 plus responses every month and growing. PWC are about to launch their Code of Conduct electronically.

A number of speakers reported on websites designed to facilitate on-line giving; and to match volunteers seeking to offer time and other resources with non-profits in their neighbourhood or in their area of subject interest.

America On-line, for example, now offers the facility to tap in zip code or subject interest and you can get a list of possible organisations to support.

www.siliconvalleygives.org is the new site of the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley. One of its pages promotes SV2 - the The Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. This is actively seeking out the next generation of Valley entrepreneurs who want to contribute time and money to their favourite causes. See also allcharities.com and charitableway.com.

Incidentally, it has previously been argued that Silicon Valley has been too busy making money to get involved in the community - and the bankruptcy of the United Way of Santa Clara in the Valley was cited as vivid evidence of this.

First, it took just a series of e-mails from one prominent Valley business leader to bring in the $11million rescue funds in just one week.
Secondly - and more importantly - recent studies show substantial philanthropy and CCI going on - but not through the old conventional structures. Just as the Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are non-conformists in their business behaviour, shaking up the conventional ways of doing things - so similarly they have new ways of getting involved in the community and different priorities for involvement: see "Giving Back, the Silicon Valley Way." (1998 Report on Giving and Volunteerism in Silicon Valley by the Community Development Foundation of Silicon Valley).

www.garage.com is an on-line service linking venture capitalists and those seeking investment for their technology businesses. Now Jim Pitofsky - director of SEAChange - currently housed in the Soros Open Society Institute in New York - is seeking to do a garage.org equivalent for social entrepreneurs.

Pitofsky wants to create an on-line database of US social entrepreneurs and to help to link them to high net worth individuals and others interested in funding social entrepreneurs.

For me though, the most exciting of these Internet-related CSR developments is the Entrepreneurs Fund in Silicon Valley. When I was writing the "Communities" chapter of the Committee of Inquiry into a New Vision for Business, I suggested that high tech companies might donate some of their stock to the community. I got a lot of flack for a "naive" suggestion.

Venture capitalists and professional advisers to high tech start-ups in Silicon Valley have formed the Entrepreneurs Fund. They encourage firms they are advising / investing in to donate 1% of their stock to the Fund and this releases cash for community causes when the firm goes public. Since they started last year, 58 start-ups have joined and already $5m has been released for community causes from the first 2 IPOs. Seattle and other cities are already looking to replicate.

And as a final thought - from one conference speaker on the Internet and CSR:

"The Internet is all about partnerships and cutting deals - and non-profits will have to do this too."
DAVID GRAYSON