New guidance launched to help more charity trustees invest responsibly
A new guide ‘Socially Responsible Investment – A practical introduction for charity trustees’ was launched 29 June to help the increasing number of trustees who are adopting or updating responsible investment strategies on behalf of their organisations. Jointly launched by the EIRIS Foundation and Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG), the free guide provides practical advice and presents case studies of charities that have adopted a responsible investment approach in order to help other charities to align their principles with their investment practices. The adoption of responsible investment offers trustees the opportunity to reduce investment risks and also to ensure that on every level their organisations are contributing to the building of a fairer society.
IBM Helps Non-Profits Improve Effectiveness and Efficiency
On 8 June, IBM announced the addition of a new portfolio of software, services and consulting grants to respond directly to the needs of local non-profit organisations to improve their effectiveness. The new IBM Trailblazer Grants open up IBM’s innovation technology and the expertise of its employees and make them available to the local non-profit sector. Through consulting and technology tools in areas such as social networking, project management, strategic planning, leadership and collaboration, the grants will help local non-profit groups to further connect with populations in need, and more efficiently and effectively manage their organizations. In a pilot phase, the grants have been distributed to 30 non-profit organizations and schools in the United States with 150 more groups around the world set to receive grants in 2010.
Contact: IBM www-03.ibm.com
Charity Bank and Investing for Good to merge
As of 29 June, two of the big names in the world of social finance, Charity Bank and Investing for Good, will work together in a strategic alliance. The partnership will create a full service social bank combining Charity Bank’s retail deposit and lending bank services with Investing for Good’s ability to provide investment advice and arrangements to wealth managers. Malcolm Hayday, chief executive of Charity Bank, said the partnership would enable the lender to expand its services from only providing development finance to offering fund management and advisory services. The move will also allow Charity Bank to offer a wider range of funding options to its borrowers by attracting more outside investment from private individuals.
A team of Third Sector experts and staff decided on the winners of the first Business Charity Awards, published in the 3 July edition. Winners included Unilever (Charity Partnership Award), for its mutually beneficial partnership with NCT; DHL UK Foundation (Corporate Foundation Award) for its Trucks and Child Safety programme; Hovis (Cause Related Marketing Award) for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal marketing campaign; Unity Trust Bank (Employee Engagement Award) for engaging its workforce in helping a charity; and The Co-operative Group (Employment Scheme Award) for its link-up with Mencap in providing opportunities for employment, training and work experience.
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