Responsible Lobbying for B Corps: Resources to Meet the New Standards

The Government Affairs and Collective Action Impact Topic in the new standards for B Corp Certification includes requirements for responsible lobbying. With frameworks like the Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility, B Corps can advocate for an economy that works for all people while also practicing transparency and accountability. 

As corporate influence in politics continues to grow, so does public scrutiny of how businesses use their voice and money to influence public policy and elected officials. The new standards for B Corp Certification recognize the influence that businesses can have on politics and require companies, especially larger, global corporations, to have a public policy on responsible lobbying. A requirement that companies publicly share their lobbying positions and political contributions initially applies to larger companies and eventually will apply to all companies. 

The new standards for B Corp Certification require businesses to take meaningful action across social, environmental, and governance Impact Topic areas. The Government Affairs and Collective Action Impact Topic in the new standards includes requirements that companies drive collective impact by: 

• Taking a responsible and transparent approach to lobbying.
• Publicly sharing lobbying positions and political contributions each fiscal year.

Note that the new B Corp Certification requirements are unique for each company based on size, location, and other factors. Find your company’s tailored requirements on the B Impact platform and get technical guidance starting on page 13 of the Government Affairs and Collective Action B Lab resource.

Principles Provide a Mission-Driven Framework for Political Engagement

One framework for a responsible and transparent approach to lobbying is the Erb Principles for Corporate Political Responsibility (CPR), which were developed by business leaders, stakeholder groups, and experts from across the political spectrum. The Erb Principles for CPR are designed to help companies manage when and how they should use their political influence as they face new expectations from employees, investors, lawmakers, and other stakeholders. 

Elizabeth Doty helped oversee the development of the Erb Principles for CPR and is now Executive Director of Third Side Strategies. She said mission-driven companies can use the principles as a starting point for crafting their public policy on responsible lobbying that aligns with their purpose and guides decisions on engagement, especially in a U.S. policy context. “The four principles provide a template for translating your mission and commitments as a business into your influences in the public sphere,” Doty said. “For example, what does your mission imply for when you engage, what your positions are, and how you use your voice? Do you have a clear rationale for when you engage on democracy issues and when you don’t? Do you believe it is responsible to do any political spending, such as for positive ballot initiatives?”

With questions related to each principle, companies can craft their responsible lobbying policy. These principle-related questions can include:

• Legitimacy. On what legitimate basis do we engage in civic and political affairs? When should we get involved and why? What is required by our purpose? By the public interest?
• Accountability. How do we align our political activities with our commitments to our purpose, goals, and values? When we face misalignments, how do we prioritize? Who do we consult?
• Responsibility. How do our political activities support the systems on which our economy, society, and environment depend? Do we have a responsibility to support constitutional democracy or evidence-based civic discourse?
• Transparency. How do we ensure we communicate openly about political activities in a way that promotes informed decision-making and public trust? What do we report, and how do we explain our rationale? How do we incorporate feedback and learn?

Doty said the CPR approach is especially relevant for B Corps because they are committed to weighing their social and environmental impact when making business decisions. “CPR is driven by the commitments a company has made, such as your purpose or stakeholder promises. And we know B Corps have made the most ambitious commitments that business can make,” she said. “At its core, this is what the principle of accountability is about — striving to align your public affairs with these major commitments.”

The stakeholders that drive a B Corp’s business decisions are also the key factor for companies as they determine when to engage in politics. “This is the principle of legitimacy, which calls on companies to engage where needed to fulfill your core commitments but also where you have a material impact on an issue — where your industry may have contributed to or is linked to a problem,” Doty said. “This is very helpful in narrowing the field for engagement, though it puts you squarely in front of some serious challenges, too.”

Doty said the transparency principle can be useful in determining how to communicate and report on policy-related activities. “We view the litmus test as ‘What will enable trust and choice for stakeholders?’” she said. “This means going beyond disclosures and reporting to communicating your rationale — and being open to feedback.”

And the principle of responsibility is really about baseline expectations for having a positive social and environmental impact — a concept at the heart of B Corp Certification, Doty said. “You want to help markets reward real value for people and planet, rather than rewarding externalizing costs to society. You want to ensure your actions don’t undermine constitutional democracy but strengthen it. And you want to participate in civic discourse in good faith and based on evidence, and support social and environmental systems,” she said. “This is the essence of the public interest.”

Resources to Shape a Stakeholder-Minded Approach to Lobbying

By requiring companies to have a public policy on lobbying, the new standards reinforce transparency and accountability among B Corps. This helps customers, workers, and other stakeholders stay informed and see how a company’s lobbying is tied to its mission and impact.    

Doty said Danone’s policy on advocacy was a good model for other corporations. It outlines Danone’s definition of advocacy and why advocacy is important to the corporation, which includes some regional groups like Danone North America that are B Corps. The advocacy policy also highlights topics that Danone engages with, including sustainability and climate, nutrition and health, and higher transparency and accountability standards. 

“They have done the hard work to prioritize issues in their Impact Journey and establish governance processes to help them implement it,” Doty said. Danone also shares information online about its partnerships for impact that center on responsible advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and collective action. 

Other B Corps that have published advocacy policies include Natura &Co., a Brazil-based personal care and cosmetics corporation, and Bonduelle, a multinational corporation that produces and distributes vegetables and other plant-based foods. 

Companies looking to develop similar advocacy frameworks can use resources related to the Principles for CPR. Lauren Caplan, Doty’s colleague at Third Side Strategies, said they are developing a new resource, the CPR Governance Review Guide for Managers, to help corporations on their journey. 

“This walks you through a step-by-step process of clarifying the purpose of your public or government affairs activities, the people you involve or consult, the principles you draft to guide decisions, and the processes you use to manage implementation and oversight,” she said. “It provides a great focal point for team discussions about how you will show up in your government affairs. It also calls out challenges and pitfalls, such as where it is easy to engage in too many issues.”

The leaders involved in this process are different for each company, Caplan said, due to size or other factors. “We are finding a combination of chief legal officers, public or government affairs officers, communications, sustainability, and HR leaders,” she said. “In every case, the effort does require cross-functional engagement to be effective. This is not surprising, because it takes work to speak as one voice in the public sphere.”

Beyond the core team driving the CPR effort, she said corporations should have internal and external consultations with three stakeholder groups: Those affected by your approach, those who have insights to share to make it better, and those who are key to implementation.

Find your company’s tailored requirements on the B Impact platform and get technical guidance starting on page 13 of the Government Affairs and Collective Action B Lab resource.