Corporate Social Responsibility

The Outside the box team may be small, but we believe that if everybody takes their responsibilities seriously, the world will be a better place.

According to ISO 26000, CSR is all about taking into consideration societal, environmental, legal, cultural, political and organizational diversity, as well as differences in economic conditions, while being consistent with international norms of behaviour.
[Source: https://www.iso.org/standard/42546.html, 4 May 2020]

The environmental impact of our translation and copywriting businesses is small. We work from our home offices, where all we need is a computer, some software and reference materials. In essence, our businesses are paperless and energy consumption is limited.

We do travel, but not excessively, and we think twice before deciding on the means of transport. We travel for CPD, but we do not commute to work, unless we have an appointment with a customer. The personal touch is important to us.

Our mission is to help companies grow by working with those who subscribe to the ethical principles of CSR. We adhere to legislation and as multilingual – and therefore multicultural – people, our keen awareness of cultural diversity and socio-linguistic differences means we can provide texts that speak to the target audience with minimal bias.

We believe in a practical approach, both to our work and to our footprint in the world.

Our personal touch

Ellen travelled to Nairobi, Kenya in 2019. For the street children there, going to school is not taken for granted the way it is in the Netherlands, where we live and work. At school, the children receive a meal, often the only food they eat that day. Lack of funds means the teachers – most of whom are volunteers – do not stay with the school for long (sometimes only a month), they are very short of resources and rent rooms where and when they can. Locals are raising funds to build a school building.

Write outside the box - Maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen

Outside the box is committed to providing 10% of its profits to help fund educational resources and food for children at this school, in Mathare, one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Nairobi. We believe in education, and that by enabling children learn to read and write they can build their own future.

Once again, Outside the box brings a personal touch. Our local contact, Kevin Juma, a translator in Nairobi, personally takes donations to the school and consults with the teachers and the head, Madam Mary, to make sure the money is spent as effectively as possible. We cannot help everyone, but if we all try to make a small difference, we will be building a better world for future generations.