Raymond Petersen never turned down a request to support and work for vital causes that affect the welfare of his business and the nation.
Petersen served as chairman of the National Advertising Review Council, the American Advertising Federation, and the Advertising Hall of Fame Council of Judges. He also was the chairman of Religion in American Life and vice chairman of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Perhaps Petersen's most significant contribution to advertising was to help establish the industry's self-regulatory bodies, the NARB and the NAD. As chairman of the American Advertising Federation, he was most active and effective as a spokesman against government interference in the advertising business. He pioneered campaigning against the numbers race in magazine circulation, which put a lid on higher advertising costs. He had also long been a proponent of having the reader pay a fair price, thus lowering advertising's share of publishing costs.
In addition to his work within the advertising industry, Petersen dedicated his time to the USO, Boy Scouts Greater New York Council, United Cerebral Palsy Fund, Children of Alcoholics Foundation, National Crime Prevention Council, Madison Square Boys Club, Yale Eye Center, Casa Pacelli Foundation, St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center, Jerusalem Mental Health Center, Advisory Board of Webber College and the Business Committee of Montclair State College.