Despite the increasing worldwide awareness of the importance of social issues in contemporary business management, Polish small and medium-sized enterprises seem to remain in the group of followers, certainly not leaders, of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, and this despite important dissemination efforts by numerous institutions. The aim of this paper is to present the bumpy road to the (still incomplete) implementation of CSR by Polish SMEs and also to demonstrate a possible shift in the attitude of Polish entrepreneurs. The research is based on available statistical and qualitative data from recent reports and official policies. A presentation of cases of companies emerging from a regional CSR contest completes the picture.