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By Paul Klein

The last quarter of 2014 is a month away and corporate social responsibility managers are wringing their hands in advance of programme planning and budget approval for the next fiscal.

Ironically, although corporate social responsibility costs are minuscule compared to virtually any other line item in a company’s budget, spending in this area is scrutinised closely. There are two reasons for this. Executives are hard-wired to improve value, but pinpointing the return on investment of “social” spending is virtually impossible. At the same time, CSR has become a proxy for social licence to operate and not allocating adequate resources in this area is seen as a risk.

Decision-making in the face of opposing priorities is never easy but CSR managers often lack the tools, metrics and capacity to assess their program’s performance. As a result, their positions and budgets are particularly vulnerable. If you find yourself in this situation, here are ten practical ways to help demonstrate your value and get your 2015 budget approved.