9 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Your Company Speaks Up on a Political Issue

Ask yourself these nine questions before you lend your company’s voice to an issue. If you answer no to any of them, it’s unwise to proceed.

1. Is the issue central to your business’s values, code of conduct, or other existing public commitments?
2. Is the issue an environmental or social priority, according to a rigorous materiality assessment?
3. Does the issue pertain to commitments you have made to your workforce, such as diversity and inclusion and human rights commitments?
4. Has your company done all it can to ensure it isn’t making the problem worse through its actions or business model?
5. Does your company have relevant capacity and expertise to contribute to solutions for the issue?
6. Is this a new issue that has a proximate relationship to the company’s goals or operations?
7. Is there a clear way your business can make a positive contribution in collaboration with others?
8. Will acting on the issue support a positive operating environment for business in general? Would it support democratic participation, fair competition, equality of opportunity, and basic human rights?
9. Can the company make a statement that’s consistent with its values, prior actions, political spending, and environmental and social priorities?

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