If you're looking for quality makeup or beauty products, there's a good chance you're heading to Sephora, the black-and-white striped home of more lipsticks and eyeshadows than you could imagine. But while it'd be easy to coast on its reputation as a giant in the beauty world, Sephora quietly goes a step further with its Sephora Stands umbrella of corporate social responsibility programs, creating a perfect demonstration for how a company can put together a CSR program that fits with its products and core values.

Sephora Stands encompasses four different, unique CSR programs for the company: the Sephora Accelerate program is focused on supporting female entrepreneurs in the beauty industry; Sephora’s Classes for Confidence program provides specialized beauty training to transgendered people in transition; the Sephora Stands Together fund is all about workplace giving, donation matching, and volunteer programs in local communities; and Sephora Sustainability encourages environmentally conscientious practices to help the planet.

So even if you think Sephora is only about makeup, you can see how they've tied their four unique CSR programs into their brand identity and long-term charitable goals. They cover employee giving and assistance, community outreach, environmental action, and entrepreneurial support all under one umbrella. According to their website, by the year 2020 they'll have empowered 100,000 people through the Classes for Confidence program and helped more than 50 female founders through the Sephora Accelerate program. They're currently up to 500+ nonprofit partners and counting!

They've also added a couple of features that are perfect for any CSR effort: the ability to sign up for a newsletter to stay informed, and an Instagram account where you can see all the CSR-related goings-on across the company.

 

Did you know that May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage month? Before we jump into June, we asked employees to share reflections and stories about their culture on our internal intranet. Here are some of our favorite quotes! #sephoralife

A post shared by Sephora Americas (@sephoralife) on May 30, 2018 at 3:07pm PDT

Although their CSR programs may not be front and center, they're still doing amazing work behind the scenes that deserves applause - and to serve as inspiration! Think about what charitable efforts would line up with your business, start small if you need to and grow from there. Plus, dedicated social media and news updates to your customers are never a bad idea.

And if you're looking to get started with your own company CSR program, we've got the perfect resource for you!

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