Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) – Definition

“Corporate social responsibility is operating a business in a manner which meets or excels the ethical, legal,
commercial and public expectations that a society has from the business.”

Cestui Que Trust

Cestui Que Trust refers to the beneficiary of a trust—the person for whose benefit the trust is created and
who receives the advantages arising from the trust.
• The beneficiary receives benefits such as financial distributions or property rights.
• The trustee is responsible for managing the trust and ensuring it operates according to legal agreements.
• Trusts can be used for estate planning, asset protection, and investment strategies.
• Once a trust is established, it is often difficult to revoke, making careful structuring essential.

Corporate Social Purpose

Corporate social purpose is broader than traditional corporate social responsibility; it is how a business
makes a positive economic, social, and environmental impact in the world. It is how an organization devotes
meaningful effort, time, and experience toward public well-being. It can help strengthen national economies,
help people be healthier and better educated, and help societies become more resilient.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – General Concept

“CSR is a concept whereby organizations serve the interests of society by taking responsibility for the
impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the environment in all
aspects of their operations.”

CSR – European Union Definition

“A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and
in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.”

Cy-près Doctrine

The term Cy-près comes from French, meaning "as near as possible."
• It was originally developed in English courts of equity, primarily for charitable trusts.
• It is used when a specific purpose of a donation or trust cannot be fulfilled, allowing the funds to be
redirected to a similar cause.
• In the United States, it is also applied in class action settlements, ensuring unclaimed funds serve a purpose
aligned with the original intent.

Diversity and Inclusion

“Diversity” refers to gender, sexual orientation, age, race, religion, disability, or other characteristic
differences that people have. “Inclusion” is about celebrating those differences, challenging inequality, and
ensuring people feel respected.

Draft Fund-Raising Document

Draft fund raising document means the draft fund raising document filed with a Social Stock Exchange in
relation to a public issue of Zero Coupon Zero Principal Instruments by a Not for Profit Organization
registered with the Social Stock Exchange.
Environmental Justice

Environmental justice is often defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The disproportionate impacts that Hurricane
Katrina had on relatively poor areas, and the exposure of urban communities to environmental contaminants
like lead, such as in the Flint, Michigan drinking water crisis, are often used as examples of environmental
injustice.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is all about designing workspaces, tools, and tasks to fit the people using them. It aims to
improve comfort, efficiency, and overall well-being, whether you're sitting at a desk all day or lifting heavy
objects. Good ergonomics can help prevent injuries like back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and eye strain.

For Profit Social Enterprise

For Profit Social Enterprise means a company or a body corporate operating for profit, which is a Social
Enterprise for the purposes of these regulations and does not include a company incorporated under section
8 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Good Governance

In the 1992 report titled “Governance and Development”, the World Bank defined Good Governance as “the
manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for
development.”
Good governance assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account, and
the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present
and future needs of society.
Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage
public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and
corruption and with due regard for the rule of law.

Good Governance Index

• The Good Governance Index was launched on the occasion of Good Governance Day on 25 December
2019.
• It is a uniform tool used across States and Union Territories to assess the status of governance and the
impact of various interventions undertaken.
• Objectives:
o Provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all States and Union Territories.
o Enable formulation and implementation of suitable governance improvement strategies.
o Encourage a shift to result-oriented approaches and administration.

Governance

Governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented.
It can be applied in various contexts including:
• Corporate governance
• International governance
• National governance
• Local governance
Human Rights

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that protect us all. They are based on dignity, fairness, equality,
and respect. Businesses have a significant impact on the way we live our life and enjoy these human rights,
whether it’s as an employee, a customer or simply living alongside companies that share our cities and
towns.

International Institute for Sustainable Development – CSR Synonyms

CSR is referred to as corporate responsibility, corporate accountability, corporate ethics, corporate

ISO (International Organization for Standardization)

ISO is a non-governmental body made up of members from national standard bodies worldwide. It develops
world-class standards to ensure quality, safety, and efficiency of products, services, and practices.

ISO 26000 – Working Definition of Social Responsibility

“Social responsibility is the responsibility of an organisation for the impacts of its decisions and activities on
society and the environment through transparent and ethical behaviour that:
• Is consistent with sustainable development and the welfare of society;
• Takes into account the expectations of stakeholders;
• Is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international norms of behaviour;
• Is integrated throughout the organisation.”
(Working definition from ISO 26000 Working Group on Social Responsibility, Sydney, February 2007)

The IAIA

(International Association of Impact Assessment) Defines – Impact assessment (IA) is a structured a process
for considering the implications, for people and their environment, of proposed actions while there is still an
opportunity to modify (or even, if appropriate, abandon) the proposals.

Michel Hopkins – Definition of CSR

“Corporate Social Responsibility is concerned with treating the stakeholders of a company or institution
ethically or in a responsible manner. ‘Ethically or in a responsible manner’ refers to treating key
stakeholders in a manner deemed acceptable according to international norms.”

Monitoring

The term “monitor” is derived from Latin, meaning “to warn.”

National Development

National development is the capacity of the country to raise the standard of living of its residents. It can be
achieved by providing individuals with basic livelihood requirements and supplying them with employment,
etc. Development is a process that creates growth, brings in progress and positive change.
Not for Profit Organization

Not for Profit Organization means a Social Enterprise which is any of the following entities:
• a charitable trust registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882;
• a charitable trust registered under the public trust statute of the relevant State;
• a charitable society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860;
• a company incorporated under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013;
• any other entity as may be specified by SEBI.

Participatory Budgeting

Participatory budgeting is a social governance approach that involves citizens in the decision-making
process for how public funds are spent. This approach aims to increase transparency, accountability, and
citizen engagement in local governance.

Product Safety

Product safety is the ability of a product to be safe for intended use, as determined when evaluated against a
set of established rules.

Social Audit

Social Audit is a novel concept and its impartial, systematic process allows stakeholders to assess the impact
made by the Social Enterprise through its interventions, programs, or projects, and identify the gap between
the desired objective and the actual impact made by the Social Enterprise during the reporting period. It also
aims to aid regulators for effective implementation of applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and assists the
general public in making informed decisions when investing in the securities of a Social Enterprise.

Social Auditor

Social Auditor means an individual registered with a self-regulatory organization under the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India or such other agency, as may be specified by the Board, who has qualified a
certification program conducted by the National Institute of Securities Market and holds a valid certificate.
[Regulation 292A(f) of SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018]

Social Development

Social Development refers to improving the well-being of every individual in society so they can reach their
full potential.
The success of society is closely tied to the well-being of every citizen.
Social development fundamentally means investing in people.

Social Enterprise

Social Enterprise means either a Not for Profit Organization or a For Profit Social Enterprise that meets the
eligibility criteria specified in Chapter X-A of the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations.

Social Governance

At an organizational level, social governance refers to the processes and structures that organizations use to
manage and address social issues. This can include issues related to the environment, human rights, labor
practices, community development, and other social issues that impact people and the planet. Social
governance is sometimes seen as one of the pillars of ESG, and sometimes as an alternative to ESG
encompassing all three components—Environmental, Social, and Governance.
Social Impact

Social Impact refers to net effect of the proposed project on stakeholders. This may include impact on
community as whole or on individuals or upon a single families or set of families, organisations or industries
as a whole.

Social Impact Assessment

Social Impact Assessment is a process for the identification, analysis, assessment, management, and
monitoring of the social impacts of a project.
• These impacts may be positive or negative, long-term or short-term, identifiable or non-identifiable.
• SIA covers direct and indirect impacts on people and their communities throughout all stages of the project
lifecycle

Social Impact Assessment – Definition by International Institute for Sustainable

“A Social Impact Assessment is a process of research, planning and the management of social change or
consequences (positive and negative, intended and unintended) arising from policies, plans, developments,
and projects.

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)

“SRI” means Socially Responsible Investing, and refers to an investment discipline that considers ESG
criteria to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact through targeted
investment decision-making.

Social Sustainability

Social sustainability involves the creation of policies that mitigate social inequality and promote equal
opportunities for all humans to live a high quality of life, regardless of their socio-economic or cultural
backgrounds. Building socially sustainable communities and institutions requires executive bodies to factor
in equity, diversity, human rights, social cohesion, and labor rights into all decision-making processes and
value chains. These tactics aim to create a better social climate for current and future generations.

Spatial Analysis

Spatial Analysis is a tool that uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and overlay maps to identify
cumulative impacts of multiple actions.
• It is useful for analyzing impacts in areas such as sanitation, road construction, water scarcity, and
farming-related activities.
• It helps in understanding where and how different project impacts interact spatially.

Social Return on Investment (SRoI)

SRoI is a method of monetizing the non-financial Social and Environmental value created by enterprise. It is
a principle-based method that provides a consistence approach to understanding and managing an
organisation’s impact. Since the Social Value created is more likely to be qualitative in nature it may difficult
to monetize it.
Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

CSR includes responsibility for the impacts of decisions and activities on:
• People (Social)
• Planet (Environmental)
• Profit (Economic)
This framework is often used to assess CSR as a blend of social, environmental, and financial performance.

Workplace Health and Wellbeing

Workplace health and wellbeing is about ensuring your employees are safe, healthy, satisfied, and engaged
with their work.

Workplace Health Footprint

Every company has a “health footprint,” and frameworks are useful in understanding the broad influence
that an organization may have—knowingly or unknowingly—on health and well-being. By embracing
employee health and well-being as a pivotal piece of social governance strategy, organizations will be better
able to create a resilient, agile workforce that’s well-positioned for the future.