Community and Contributions news and comment by Larissa Carter
News and commentary from the February/March edition of Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue 104
Comment
Trends in corporate community investment are gradually changing. It is evident that companies are donating ever-more strategically, or reviewing their CR programmes in order to do so. Whether this is due to factors such as recent cuts in CR budgets, an evolution of corporate thinking about how to get the best from their contributions, or a shift in what charities are requesting, is uncertain. But one thing that will undoubtedly accompany an increased focus on strategic giving is the necessity for collaboration and effective impact measurement.
Collaborations are important for accessing target beneficiaries and expertise on the issues. Skills-sharing initiatives, like BT’s Community Connections scheme and Barclays’ ‘You can b’ project, make use of community organisations to transfer skills to individuals in the community, up-skilling them to improve their everyday lives and employment prospects. On a global scale, traditional cash contributions are increasingly being made by multi-national companies to collaborative projects involving governments, NGOs and local partners. These partners can provide a more holistic approach to complex social issues like poverty alleviation and strengthening local economies in the developing world. PepsiCo Foundation’s collaboration in India with Save the Children, and the chocolate industry’s commitments to the World Cocoa Foundation’s five-year initiative for cocoa farmers in West Africa shows recognition of the importance 0f such partnerships.
The continued success of these (and smaller-scale) community projects, will depend not only on the quality of the partnerships fostered, but also the effective measurement of project impacts. A recent study conducted by The Conference Board on the effects of the economic downturn on corporate giving, revealed that over 50% of the companies surveyed report an increased focus on impacts measurement. Implementing an effective measurement process will help demonstrate the short and long-term benefits to each partner, enabling them to develop the initiative in a sustainable way and ensure that investments of cash and resource are maximised. The London Benchmarking Group (LBG) is leading the way in impacts measurement methodology in the UK. Moving forward, LBG faces the challenge of creating a framework that can be used as a standard tool, and through the work done so far, has found that companies and community partners are increasingly recognising the benefits to be gained, and are supporting the development of research and methodologies in this area.
IKEA donates $48 million to child health and survival programmes
On February 23, UNICEF announced that IKEA, through its corporate philanthropy arm, IKEA Social Initiative, is further expanding its support for children with a $48 million donation for UNICEF programmes in India. This most recent donation will support projects aimed at improving the health and survival of tens of millions of women and children in some of India’s most deprived areas. UNICEF also announced that, with this donation, IKEA Social Initiative has become the agency’s biggest corporate partner, with total commitments of more than $180 million from 2000 to 2015. Contact: Ikea www.ikea.com
Roads to Respect reaches out to 14 EU countries
In its third year, the Roads to Respect (R2R) project is expanding to four new participant countries, bringing up their total number to 14. Coordinated by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and supported by the Toyota Fund for Europe and 3M, R2R involves graduate students and young professionals from across Europe in science-based road safety work. The campaigns are designed to make a significant and measurable contribution to bringing down road safety casualties within the concerned area principally by improving road infrastructure. Contact: European Transport Safety Council www.etsc.be
Pax World invests $3 million in Calvert Foundation
On February 5, Pax World Management, a sustainable investment corporation, announced that the Pax World Balanced Fund has made a $3 million investment in Calvert Foundation. $1.5 million of the new investment will be directed to the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund (Community Loan Fund) through a Calvert Foundation loan, with the remaining funds to be directed to micro-finance and other community development financial institutions (CDFIs). The investment aims to encourage and enable low and moderate income borrowers to take advantage of opportunities that arise in times of economic uncertainty. Contact: Paxworld www.paxworld.com
John Lewis chooses Contact the Elderly for staff volunteering initiative
John Lewis Department Stores has announced that it has partnered with Contact the Elderly as its charity for 2009. Donations and funds raised by John Lewis will go towards supporting the charity’s volunteer network which cares for and supports older people across the UK. The aim of the partnership in 2009 will be to kick-start a volunteering programme for John Lewis Partners which will support existing volunteering groups within Contact the Elderly as well as to start new groups in untapped areas. The charity will also benefit from John Lewis’ strong regional presence across the UK to tie in fundraising initiatives on both a local and national scale. Contact: John Lewis www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk
Landfill fund reaches £1 billion mark
On February 18, contributions from landfill operators to the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) hit £1 billion. The fund, introduced in 1996 to redress some of the environmental costs of landfill, has benefited more than 24,000 local projects, which work to improve the environment in the vicinity of landfill sites. Projects benefiting from the fund include reclaimed land, improvements to community facilities, repairs to places of worship and habitat creation in support of biodiversity. Contact: Entrust www.entrust.org.uk
PepsiCo Foundation announces grant to Save the Children to address malnutrition in developing nations
The PepsiCo Foundation has announced a three-year, $5 million grant to Save the Children to help ensure the survival and well-being of children living in rural India and Bangladesh, which together are home to 40% of the world’s malnourished children. With support from the PepsiCo Foundation, Save the Children will work towards decreasing child mortality and child malnutrition in these countries. Save the Children proposes to work with community health educators to provide thousands of families, who are among these countries’ poorest, with important information about health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene. Contact: PepsiCo www.pepsico.com
Barclays and Junior Achievement launch youth work-readiness and entrepreneurship initiative
JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement) and Barclays Bank have announced the launch of a three-year, £1.5million program, “You can b”. The initiative will support the expansion of Junior Achievement’s entrepreneurship and work-readiness projects in 11 countries during its first year: The countries involved will receive a $30,000 grant to implement and expand the reach of Junior Achievement’s programmes. Key elements of the initiative are the setting up of challenge-driven “innovation camps”; the launch, operation and liquidation of student-run companies as well as job-shadowing and mentoring with Barclays’ volunteers. Contact: Barclays www.barclays.com
BT helps local charities use digital technology to change lives
Five charities across the UK have taken part in a pioneering project to help people master technology in their neighbourhoods as a result of awards received through the BT Community Connections scheme. This year’s five BT Community Connectors are: Breakthrough Youth Project in Glasgow; the Lisieux Trust in Birmingham; Hardwick in Partnership in Cleveland; Honeycroft in Hove and Siawns Teg in Powys. The charities offer various support services from youth, disability and unemployment services to childcare and cultural diversity support. The award winners received training from BT in July last year, as well as a laptop, and ongoing support and resources to help them offer more people in their neighbourhoods the opportunity to experience the benefits that technology can offer. The scheme aims to encourage online literacy in communities that need it. Contact: BT www.BT.com
Twestival set to raise £1m for Charity: water
Microblogging website Twitter hosted a variety of events on February 12, aiming to raise more than £1 million for Charity: water. Entitled Twestival, the project involves volunteers from all over the world putting on events in more than 202 cities to generate funds for the water organisation. The project is supported by the website, on which users have proposed and coordinated events all over the world. The total raised from the Global Twestival stood at $250,000 USD on 18 February 2009 – confirmation from over 80 cities is still pending. Contact: charity:water www.twestival.com
ING Foundation and Girls Inc boost financial literacy amongst girls
A program, launched February 12 by the ING Foundation and Girls Inc., aims to give participating girls practical, hands-on investing experience while allowing them to keep their gains in the form of college scholarships. With the help and guidance of trained Girls Inc. staff and ING employee volunteers, teams of girls ages 12 to18 will build and manage diversified, real-time portfolios as part of an integrative investment and economic literacy curriculum. Contact: ING Foundation www.ing-usa.com
Foundations work to improve cocoa farmer livelihoods in West Africa
On February 19 The World Cocoa Foundation announced a new, $40 million program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and chocolate industry companies to significantly improve the livelihoods of approximately 200,000 cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Liberia. In addition to the $23 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, over $17 million in financial support and in-kind contributions comes from the private sector including major branded manufacturers The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods and Mars. Contact: World Cocoa Foundation www.worldcocoafoundation.org
ArcelorMittal South Africa launches partnership with the Department of Education
ArcelorMittal South Africa and the South African Department of Education have announced a partnership to build ten new schools throughout the country using new steel technology. In a first for South Africa, the Primary School will be built using insulated panel technology, which relies heavily on steel as a building material. It can withstand extreme weather conditions, is fire resistant and ten times faster to erect than using conventional building technologies. Contact: Arcelor Mittal www.arcelormittal.com
100 Ghanaian communities join Cadbury Cocoa Partnership
The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership initiative is now active in 100 Ghanaian communities, Chief Executive Officer of Cadbury plc, Todd Stitzer, has said in Accra. Mr Stitzer was in the country last week to check on progress made since the launch of the cocoa partnership last year. While Ghanaian cocoa trades at a premium due to its consistent high quality, the country’s cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges ranging from the ever-present threat of crop disease to attracting the next generation of farmers. The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership’s first year has seen a Ghana Board set up to oversee the programme which includes representatives from Ghanaian government ministries, farmer organisations and development specialists. Cadbury www.cadbury.com
Currency exchanging initiative raises money for charity with each transaction
UK foreign exchange firm Currencies Direct has launched a fund-raising initiative to help individuals, businesses and charities generate free donations for good causes. Currencies Direct will make a donation to a registered charity of any new customer’s choice when they buy or arrange foreign currency from the firm via its fund-raising initiative, FX4Charity. The firm anticipates paying £100,000 to charity in the first year alone with Managing Director Ignacio Hernandez saying ‘at a time when the reputation of some financial services is at an all time low, we think FX4Charity epitomises how City businesses can operate both successfully and responsibly”. Contact: FX4Charity www.fx4charity.com
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