We study how corporate social responsibility relates to investors, firms, and shareholder proposals. We examine shareholder proposals on environmental, social, and governance issues at the annual general meeting of shareholders with US Fortune 250 firms during 2011–2014. We find that the probability of receiving shareholder proposals on environmental issues is positively associated with responsible institutional ownership. We find no systematic evidence that the outperformance regarding social responsibility of the firms themselves would significantly matter regarding the likelihood of shareholders filing proposals about corporate social responsibility, except for employee wellbeing. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment