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Download resourceSocial Procurement vs CSR in Procurement: What’s the Difference and White It Matters
As competition for government contracts intensifies, many organisations are looking for ways to stand out. What is a key differentiator? A robust, embedded commitment to social procurement.
While many businesses recognise the value of social impact and want to do more, social procurement is often confused with corporate social responsibility (CSR) – but they are not the same.
In this article, we explore the differences and show how both can be used to strengthen your position in government tenders and procurement processes.
What’s the Difference Between These Concepts?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a voluntary expression of an organisation’s ethical values and community commitments. It can include:
- Charitable donations and sponsorships
- Employee volunteering programs
- Partnerships with not-for-profit organisations
- Sustainability initiatives.
These initiatives are important—they build internal culture, attract like-minded talent, and demonstrate good corporate citizenship. Many organisations publish their CSR commitments publicly, especially larger companies responding to shareholder expectations around environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
However, CSR tends to be broad, high-level, and often disconnected from core operational functions. It’s typically overseen by marketing, HR, or corporate affairs teams and applies across the business, rather than being embedded in specific practices like purchasing or hiring.
What is Social Procurement?
Social procurement goes further. It is strategic, operational, and targeted, embedding social impact directly into how an organisation spends its money and hires its people.
Rather than being a company-wide values statement, social procurement is a focused set of actions integrated into procurement and employment practices. It is tied to measurable outcomes, often aligned with public sector objectives. These may include:
- Buying from Indigenous-owned or disability-inclusive businesses
- Creating employment pathways for people from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Working with certified social enterprises that deliver community benefit.
Your social procurement framework sets the strategic vision that you are trying to achieve. Good corporate social procurement frameworks will also outline the tangible steps you will take in trying to achieve this vision.
CSR is Broad; Social Procurement is Targeted and Outcome-Driven
Here’s where the two really diverge: CSR is often generic and organisation-wide, while social procurement is deliberate, focused, and function-specific.
CSR programs reflect an organisation’s overall values and culture—they’re the “do good” efforts that can be company-wide: from staff fundraising to sustainable office practices. But these efforts, while meaningful, are rarely embedded in core procurement or employment decisions.
By contrast, social procurement is targeted, tactical, and embedded in daily business functions, especially procurement, supply chain management, and workforce development. It’s not about intent—it’s about execution. For example:
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Setting supplier diversity quotas in procurement contracts
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Engaging a social enterprise to deliver goods or services you already buy
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Creating a traineeship program for disadvantaged jobseekers within your business operations
This level of focus is what distinguishes social procurement from traditional CSR. And it’s what governments are increasingly looking for.
Why Social Procurement Matters in Government Tenders
Governments across Australia—and globally—are embedding social impact objectives into their procurement policies. That means it’s no longer enough to say your business “does good”; you need to show how your core operations contribute to measurable community outcomes.
A strong social procurement framework can significantly boost your competitive advantage. It should clearly:
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Define your social impact objectives—aligned with government procurement goals
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Embed those objectives into procurement and employment processes
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Track progress through measurable targets.
Building a Social Procurement Framework That Works
An effective social procurement framework is more than a policy document—it’s a roadmap for action. It typically includes:
1. Social procurement policies
Clear corporate policies tied to social outcomes in your procurement processes (e.g. gender equity, Indigenous inclusion, environmental sustainability).
2. Inclusive organisational practices
It’s not enough to simply have policies on paper—what truly matters is how those policies are brought to life within your organisation. This means designing and delivering inclusive programs that translate your commitments into real-world practices. This may include capability-building, social supplier sourcing programs and implementing inclusive hiring initiatives.
3. Measurable targets
Defining Short-, medium-, and long-term goals that demonstrate progress and impact—internally and in your external reporting.
This framework becomes your organisation’s blueprint for creating sustainable, community-aligned change through everyday business decisions.
Social Procurement is a Journey, Not a Checklist
Whether you’re a large company or a small service-based business, embedding social procurement is a journey. What matters is having a plan in place.
Start with where you are—build from your existing CSR programs, map your supply chain, and identify opportunities for social value creation. Over time, your social procurement practices will mature and become part of business-as-usual.
For example, if your organisation wants to partner with social enterprises, you may need time to:
- Identify appropriate suppliers
- Adjust procurement processes
- Train internal teams on how to evaluate social value.
Having a social procurement strategy now means that when a government tender asks for it—you’re ready.
CSR Still Has a Role—As a Foundation for Social Procurement
CSR remains valuable. In fact, smart organisations use CSR as a starting point to delve into deeper social procurement practices.
For instance, if your CSR program involves sponsoring disadvantaged youth, a next step could be implementing a traineeship program for that same cohort—turning passive support into active empowerment.
By connecting CSR and social procurement, your organisation builds on its values while shifting from charity to impact.
And importantly, governments still consider CSR in evaluations, especially when it reflects alignment with public sector values. Make sure your CSR efforts are clearly labelled and included in tender responses—especially in executive summaries.