Summary
A strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and the not-for-profit sector influences nearly every aspect of Amazon's business.  Amazon delivers communication services to responsible businesses, charities, the public sector, and voluntary and social enterprise agencies.  In addition, Amazon incorporates many CSR principles into its own working practice and provides pro bono consultancy to selected clients, such as The Rainforest Foundation and Maternity Alliance, equivalent to thousands of pounds a year.  Amazon views this important work as an investment in a collective future, rather than as a donation.

Background
Amazon PR is an issues-based public relations and communications consultancy that works with the not-for-profit and public sectors, and for responsible businesses.   Amazon believes that all voluntary, public and social enterprise sector organisations need and deserve access to the very best in public relations, marketing and strategic communications expertise.

Many of the issues communicated on behalf of clients, are linked to Amazon's own corporate and individual values and beliefs.

Responsible business objectives 

• To continue to make a positive social, environmental and economic contribution
  
• To enable and enhance other organisations' efforts to make a positive social, environmental and economic contribution
  
• To develop working practices which are employee-friendly, because happy staff, means productive staff.

How they do it

• Pro-Bono Assistance.  A key component of Amazon's business strategy is to help build sustainability into the communities it serves.   Causes are selected through staff consultation.  When Amazon selected the environment as its cause in 2001, it was decided to offer consultancy services to a small charity, where the greatest impact could be made.  After meeting with the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK), a two-year partnership was agreed which included training and an exit strategy to enhance the charity's self-sufficiency and sustainability.  A client team was appointed and staff got involved in all levels of activity, from strategy to implementation.
  
  More recently, Amazon has completed a six-month partnership with The Maternity Alliance, another small organisation.  Amazon created and delivered a series of training workshops designed to increase Maternity Alliance's internal skills capacity and to jointly develop a suitable PR strategy and implementation plan for the charity to take forward.

• Flexible Friendly Workplace.  Amazon PR has always been a family- and relationship-friendly company.  Flexible hours and the option to work from home, suits the team of full-time and part-time consultants and the network of freelance consultants.  For the team, it means being able to look after children, spend time with partners, save money on transport (and not pollute) or fulfil personal development goals and enjoy more leisure time.  For the business, it means content, productive staff .

What impact it has

• Rainforest Foundation UK.  Throughout the two-year partnership, Amazon on average provided free-of-charge services for two days a month.  Work included publicising two fundraising art exhibitions, as well as helping the Rainforest Foundation create a PR strategy and implementation plan, and assisting in the recruitment of a permanent in-house PR officer.

• Maternity Alliance.  Six one-day monthly workshops, created and run by Amazon, have helped Maternity Alliance to develop some concrete, achievable PR plans specifically designed to enable the charity to meet its organisational goals.

Business Benefits

• Pro bono work.  This enables Amazon to make a contribution to charities that would otherwise not be able to engage a PR professional.  It also gives Amazon's staff an opportunity to learn about and work on a range of social issues.
  
• Flexible working practices.  These result in a happy, loyal and productive staff, and the ability for Amazon to expand or adapt client teams when necessary.