Abstract:
The concept of corporate social responsibility has prevailed since time immemorial and has for a long time paved way for organizations to have moral, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities in addition to their responsibilities to earn a fair return for investors and comply with the law. For a long time, corporate social responsibility has raised issues on who actually benefits from the CSR initiatives. This study focused mainly on the ‘invisible’ stakeholder that is the community, that, most often than not, are not always acknowledged and their needs are never considered where CSR activities are involved. Business analysts have documented that CSR benefits the organization by pushing the business to the next level while at the same time benefiting the society. CSR has been associated with community development for a while now, but the area has yet to be researched widely in the concept of linking it with the development of the community. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of corporate social responsibility activities by Equity Bank on community development in Narok County. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of CSR activities on community development in Narok County, while specifically focusing on Equity Bank, Narok branch. The study used a descriptive case study design and the target population was the 45 employees from Equity Bank. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire. The data was then analyzed and the findings were recorded by use of tables and figures. The process involved describing and interpreting the data in line with the study objectives through the use of SPSS computer programme. Data analysis was based on the findings of how educational programmes, financial literacy and inclusion programmes, health programmes and entrepreneurial opportunities by Equity Bank affect community development in Narok County. The study established that educational programmes contributed to community development at the highest rate, followed by entrepreneurial opportunities offered by Equity Bank, followed by health programmes and finally financial literacy and training programmes. The study concluded that education and entrepreneurial opportunities have the highest contribution to community development than any other CSR activity in Narok North Constituency.
