A celebration and a new start? Already a frightful bore? Love it or loathe it, the turn of the century will see a plethora of events and initiatives. Should companies get involved, and if so, how?
At its AGM in December, Business in the Community’s chairman, Peter Davis, made an announcement: Prince Charles has charged Stafford Taylor from BT with devising a strategy for corporate involvement in Millennium events to make a lasting and sustainable impact on problems in society. The fear of gimmicks and flippery is palpable.
Government
Certainly the UK Government views it as an opportunity to enhance national identity and pride: RENEW is the motto for activities at the Greenwich Dome – Remember, Engage, Nurture, Enjoy, Welcome. The previous government allocated one fifth of National Lottery revenues to the Millenium Commission, for projects in communities marking the close of the second millenium and celebrating the start of the third. But without 100% funding, many projects are coming cap in hand to companies for help.
The Millennium Commission has three main activities.
1) Capital Projects, including major landmark projects such as the national Millenium Cycle Route and the Earth Centre near Doncaster, at least one per region. Many are finding it hard to match funding and only one landmark scheme has raised all the necessary funds. The Earth Centre is developing funding partnerships with companies, yet to be made public, and some contributions are coming through the Landfill Tax credit scheme.
2) Millennium Awards, made to individuals through grant making organisations in partnership with the Commission. Ten percent partnership funding is required.
3) New Millennium Experience, centering on the national exhibition in the Millenium Dome at Greenwich. The New Millenium Experience Company is the operator for this and the national festivities, with Jenny Page as chief executive and business people such as Bob Ayling and Sam Chisholm on the board. An enormously expensive exercise, the pressure on companies to get involved is intense, with British Airways, BT, BAA and Swatch International among those publicly committed.
Business in the Community
Companies are starting to develop their own initiatives, some more advanced than others, and the last six months, BITC has received an increased number of requests for guidance and direction. Its advice is that any Millennium activity is based on the values of a company and part of its community strategy. Having undertaken a consultation process and investigated plans for the Millennium in the USA, two main themes are emerging as important.
The first is ‘Time to Give…’, centred around volunteering, with companies pledging a certain number of paid hours. The second is ‘Time to Read…’, aimed at tackling the problem of illiteracy. Ideas for a large initiative are under discussion, linked to World Book Day in April 1998 and the Year of Reading which begins at the end of 1998. However, nothing has yet been endorsed by the board of BITC.
Companies
Most companies are at the stage of internal debate and external consultation. Marks and Spencer has set up a Millenium committee and appointed one person to be responsible for everything related to it. Initially the aim is to become clearer on the implications for Marks & Spencer as an increasingly international business. Consultation is taking place with customers, employees, retired staff and suppliers, as well as with key voluntary sector partners.
NatWest is building on its theme of financial literacy, but extending beyond school children to include the needs of all ages. This will include staff involvement and local partnerships through the Face2Face with Finance scheme although details for the Millenium are still being finalised. Likewise BT, which has a large project being planned, but the details are still under discussion and not yet public.
Barclays is also still finalising plans but expects a regional basis for any projects. The regional slant is echoed by Boots which has a three pronged approach:
a major landscaping project in Nottingham for staff and general community benefit;
support for an as yet unspecified local authority project;
a cash allocation for staff to donate to charities of their choice.
Allied Dunbar and Whitbread do not propose undertaking specific projects but expect to encourage employees to be involved on a local basis as Millenium Volunteers. London Weekend Television, in the run up to the year 2000, are running a Youth Talent Challenge to prepare young artists for the next century. They are challenging five companies – Coca Cola, Deloitte & Touche, Halifax, IBM and Thames Water – to run projects with young people in London, which will receive regular televised progress reports.
Esso is promoting the Trees of Time and Place initiative for the new Millenium: this encourages people to plant more trees and woodland grown from seeds of their choice and to register them on a millenium map for the year 2000.
Voluntary sector
The voluntary sector is also in the process of putting Millennium campaigns into motion, seeking corporate support for projects.
NCH Action for Children is undertaking a campaign to end youth homelessness for the third millenium, entitled House Our Youth 2000, which was launched in February. Supporters of the campaign so far include MFI, Halifax, Kleinwort Benson, FI Group and Standard Life (who are particularly involved with job placements). NCH hope to build models of practice and to increase awareness of the issue.
Age Concern is launching the Millennium Debate of the Age early in 1998, which aims to heighten awareness of the issues arising from the changing age profile of the population. Through local, regional and national conferences and study groups, a document entitled The Agenda for the Age will be produced, reflecting a consensus of views to help determine future policy planning and priorities. Working partners already include the CBI and the BMA. Company sponsors are, as yet, undisclosed.
Pointers for action
So, what should companies be doing? Clear the aim should be to make a real difference, using the power and excitement of the occasion to tackle deeply embedded problems. Taking time now to research and plan will help ensure success – listening to ideas and needs of communities, government and particularly voluntary sector partners.
One option is to become part of a national framework for local action, working with other companies and partners to achieve a common goal but each in its own way. Such an arrangement will avoid duplication of effort and maximise the effect. Most companies will want to continue with but extend themes and strategies already being pursued in the normal community programme. Then these activities become the starting point from which to develop further projects in the next Millennium, leading to long term sustainable solutions. Few will be able to allocate significantly larger budgets and will not want to decimate existing programmes, hence the need for continuity and integration with current themes.
Some community affairs managers may be put off by all the Millennium hype, content to leave it all to their marketing colleagues. But that would be to miss a genuinely unique opportunity to achieve a big impact on social problems, giving up the chance to use the Millennium ‘effect’ for leverage. It would also condemn the country to an insufferably trivial affair.
The Millennium Challenge (David Donovan) on 0171 808 8200.
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