By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

On the 25th of March the shortlist for the 2013 Third Sector Business Charity Awards was announced. I like hearing which partnerships have made the list because I find the stories and impacts of the partnerships incredibly heart warming and inspiring and because I believe that partnerships like this should be shouted about and celebrated and the people behind the scenes recognised.

View a full list of those partnerships shortlisted for 2013

The announcement of the shortlist is also exciting for us because it means we are only a few weeks away from our big celebratory drinks reception. As headline sponsor of the awards for the last three years, the drinks reception is now a regular fixture in the CAF event diary. It is also  one of our favourites because it is a celebration of everything we believe in. From the motivation of corporates to be better donors and engage others to give, to the impact of the charities transforming lives around the world.

This year we invited a selection of businesses and their charity partners to join us to ‘celebrate the impact of their partnership’ at the B.U.G.S House in London Zoo. Amid the arachnids and amphibians, corporates and charities networked, shared experiences and learnings, and celebrated the achievements of their partnerships.

On the night we invited the partners to let us ‘step into their shoes’ by completing a postcard for our washing line made from shoe laces(!) to highlight the impact they were there to celebrate.

We want to spread the word about the benefits of business charity partnerships for companies, charities and the community and hope to engage and motivate others to set up equally successful partnerships or grow and develop existing partnerships to deliver a greater impact. Read some of the inspirational impacts from that evening on our website or celebrate and share your own to motivate others on our LinkedIn group.

by Jonathan Gill, Corporate Advisory Manager, CAF

This article first appeared on civilsociety.co.uk

Partnerships can be a subtle yet effective way to help develop people and drive change in society.

The approaches that companies and charities take to working with one another has become increasingly varied over the last couple of decades. One of the interesting developments has been focused on how partnerships can be used to manage development, both for individual employees and for a company’s culture.

Business/charity relationships vary from being a funder/fundraising model (eg Lloyds TSB and Save the Children), to those that are focused on shared objectives and mutually beneficial outcomes (eg Barclays, Plan UK and Care International). Throughout this scale of relationships, employee volunteering is often a constant.

Companies release employees during work time as they recognise the value that it brings to the business. Much of this value is delivered through personal and/or team development through working with those charities.

Some of the more sophisticated approaches to employee volunteering involve employees of a business transferring skills and expertise to charity employees. This creates a clear benefit for the charities, but also helps the volunteer to develop their own skills (eg coaching/mentoring/leadership) that will benefit their own development and ultimately the business who employs them. The companies that take this more strategic approach align employees, their skills and their own development needs with appropriate charities. Many of our clients have even used these types of programmes to support culture change within a business.

Many of the above observations will be familiar to you all. But there are two points which I feel are often overlooked:

1. Identifying the ‘game-changers’: Some of the greatest benefits of employees volunteering for charities goes beyond the headline of hours volunteered and funds raised. It is when influential employees within a business recognise that there is a different way to doing business, an approach that can create value within society while still driving profit for shareholders. Serious corporate responsibility managers are big-picture, strategic thinkers, often playing the long game. Key to this is recognising who in the business needs to have their mindsets shifted to enable the business to become a sustainable part of society, rather than a separate entity operating on the borders. Getting those key employees to work with charities, outside of their day-to-day role, can help develop this shift. Seeing this happen is one of the joys of my role at CAF.
   
   
2. Charity volunteering schemes: In a time of reduced incomes, could charities gain the benefits of volunteering in the way that companies currently are? If a business places value on its employees working with a charity, then what about the value that could be created if larger charities created similar relationships with smaller charities that operate in a similar area of focus? This is often done at a trustee level, but what about at an operational level? Not only would skills be developed and transferred, but the opportunity for greater collaboration could be significant; driving individuals’ and organisational development for greater benefit for all.

Some approaches to personal development are up-front and obvious, others more subtle and can be vastly more powerful. Tolstoy is quoted as saying ”Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself”.

We just need to give them a nudge.

By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

Payroll Giving is a simple and tax effective way for individuals to give to charity directly from their salary. Employers sign up for payroll giving contracts with agencies like us at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and then offer the service to their employees as an additional benefit or as part of their CSR strategy.

CAF is the number one Payroll Giving agency in the UK. Our CAF Give As You Earn scheme is used by more than 3,000 companies to process and donate nearly £80 million to charity each year. We know that for the more than 160,000 charities which can benefit from payroll giving donations, this funding stream is extremely valuable because:

• It is a regular income stream which allows more effective planning.
• It reduces their administration and fundraising costs.
• With some employers, matching employee donations made through payroll giving means the income charities receive can be even greater.

For the last eight years the Government has funded the Payroll Giving Quality Mark to recognise and reward organisations of all sizes for making payroll giving available to their employees. The Payroll Giving Quality Mark comes in five levels: Standard, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The higher the percentage of employees registered to a payroll giving scheme the higher the level of Payroll Giving Quality Mark awarded. But it has been recently announced that funding for these awards may not continue this year.

“The Payroll Giving Quality Mark is the leading benchmark for using charitable  activity within employee engagement. Many of our clients have excelled at engaging their workforce through payroll giving from leading banks to major supermarkets. Every year their hard work and commitment is celebrated through the PGQM. Without this celebration of giving I fear we are sending the wrong message to companies about how their activity is perceived and valued.” 

Our clients also feel very strongly about the value the Payroll Giving Quality Mark provides for them. Here are some comments from just a few of them:

“JTI was very proud to have achieved the Payroll Giving Platinum Quality Mark Award in 2012. We believe that external accreditation of employers’ use of payroll giving will not only encourage further organisations to join, but will also encourage those already in the scheme to aspire to payroll giving excellence.” 
Karen Orchin, Head of Community Relations, JTI 

“Aberdeen Asset Management are supporters of the Payroll Giving Quality Mark because it demonstrates our commitment to payroll giving and that our company is committed to the deserving causes our employees care about.  The quality mark encourages organisation’s like ours to be involved with payroll giving and encourages staff to participate.  By increasing participation, the payroll giving provides our UK charities with a better income stream.”
Joanne Cooper, Deputy Head of Human Resources - Global , Aberdeen Asset Management PLC

“Achieving the Payroll Giving Quality Mark over the last two years has just given our business that additional recognition for the efforts that each of our employees puts in when they donate their hard earned wages to charity. Achieving a Gold mark in our first year of operating a Payroll Giving scheme was a great result and as soon as I learned that there was a new, higher mark I was keen to work on the areas needed to achieve this mark. Our platinum award in 2012 really did drive us forward with our attempts to improve the awareness of Payroll Giving and we are extremely proud to have our award on display in our flagship restaurant.”
Steve Stone, People Manager, Robert Holdcroft Ltd t/a McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd

As a leading agency in this space we would like to share our concern at the possible termination of the Payroll Giving Quality Mark as we feel it is a valuable driver to encourage payroll giving. We know companies strive to improve their Quality Mark year on year and nine percent of those companies which have applied for a Quality Mark in the last six years have improved the level they qualify for by promoting payroll giving to their employees. This encourages a higher sign-up rate and increases the amount of regular donations received by charities.

Although we appreciate cuts need to be made to budgets - and that this will not directly impact the finances of charities in the short term - without the motivation of the Payroll Giving Quality Mark to encourage organisations to promote payroll giving, the long term impact on regular donations could be far more detrimental than the Government realises.

You can find out more about our Give As You Earn payroll scheme and Matched Giving on our website.

By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

A Corporate Foundation receives its income from the profit-making company whose name it bears, but is established as a separate legal entity, usually with a permanent endowment. They often receive staff contributions and/or contributions from company profits on a regular basis - http://philanthropywiki.org.au

Recent research revealed that there are at least 140 corporate foundations in the UK. With the majority of these (96) being established since the 1990s it seems there is a growing trend amongst companies to use a foundation to fulfill part, or in some cases, all of their social responsibilities.

At our recent event on corporate foundations, David Hopkins from the CAF Charity Advisory team highlighted the benefits of a corporate foundation for charities. On average only 25% of charity applications for funding are successful. Corporate foundations by their nature are more transparent about their objectives and the types of grants which will be considered, helping charities to use their time most effectively.

In a time when global charitable giving is in decline it would seem the need for corporate foundations from a funding perspective is greater than ever, but what are the benefits for the corporate who choose to set them up?

Klara Kozlov from the CAF Corporate Advisory team presented the idea that a corporate foundation offered the power of an integrated approach because it could be aligned with wider CSR and business objectives, it could be used as a valuable employee engagement tool and, with the right partners, could be an innovative way to deliver impact.

No ‘one size fits all’

The general consensus at the event was that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to corporate foundations. We were joined by three companies at different stages of their corporate foundation journey, to offer insights and views on their experiences. The analogy used on the day, which I think fittingly describes the companies present were – a new born baby, a questioning teenager and a wise adult.

You can read a short overview of the stage most relevant to you on the links below:

• The new born – Brewin Dolphin, established 2012
• The Teenager – Anglo American Group Foundation, established 2005
• The Grown-up – Zurich Community Trust, established 1973

From the lively discussions going on after the presentations it would appear that the trend in corporate foundations is not going to slow down. The positive impact for an organization in terms of illustrating its commitment to CSR and delivering a CSR programme which engages employees, seems to be a compelling argument for many considering taking the first step to conceiving a foundation within their own company. I for one hope we do see a foundation ‘boom’ as the effects it will hopefully have on increasing sustainable donations to the struggling charity sector can only be positive.

View the full presentation:

By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

Sasha Dabliz and Rosie Richardson-Aitken from Brewin Dolphin shared their journey to launch the Brewin Dolphin Foundation in 2012. With 2,000 employees in offices across the UK Brewin were aware that some charitable activity was going on, but there was no central focus, management or reporting on this activity. So in 2012, Brewin Dolphin’s 250th anniversary, the decision was taken to centralise this activity by creating a foundation as the visible cornerstone of its CSR.

Brewin Dolphin worked with the CAF Advisory team to create a framework and strategy for the foundation, and opted not to set up a stand alone registered charity but to use the CAF Company Account to manage the foundation’s grants.

The key aims of the foundation are:

• To raise more money for charity
• To engage all staff
• To demonstrate the values of Brewin Dolphin at a more local level
• To increase charitable activity which has a social benefit
• To ensure an enduring legacy
• To enhance the business’ reputation

Brewin Dolphin wanted to create a foundation for staff by staff. In addition to donations of corporate money, the foundation is funded through its CAF Give As You Earn scheme. All grant recipients are nominated by employees and it has created a charity ambassador network across its offices to help promote the foundation and encourage involvement to allocate donations at a local level.

Although it is too soon to really measure the impact of Brewin Dolphin’s Foundation, there has been a 50% increase in the number of employees donating through the CAF Give As You Earn scheme since the foundation launched.

View the presentation by Brewin Dolphin

Read our related blogs:

• The role of a corporate foundation in a responsible business
• The Teenager - Anglo American Group Foundation, established 2005
• The Grown-up – Zurich Community Trust, established 1973

Find out more about how CAF helps businesses develop CSR programmes on our website.

By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

Charlotte Edgeworth from The Anglo American Group Foundation shared her experiences of managing a foundation which has been running for eight years – one which is ‘in its questioning teenage years’.

Anglo American is a global mining company operating in 45 countries with over 100,000 employees, only 350 of whom are based at its head office in the UK. The foundation is a stand-alone registered charity established in 2005 to bring structure and good governance to the informal and opaque charitable donation process which was in place previously.

The foundation’s budget comes directly from the company and is used to fund projects in any country where the company has a presence. Due to the nature of the industry Anglo American operates in and the social and environmental impact it has, some projects are part of ‘business as normal’. The projects the foundation supports are therefore kept very separate and are seen more as ‘the icing on the top’. To put this in perspective, the business spent £154million in total on CSR projects, just £3million of which was spent by the foundation.

The foundation operates across geographical locations and with a diverse range of programmes. Now in its teenage years the foundation has developed from the new born state but is still operating quite short term. In typical teenage style it is yet to create its five year plan, but has started to create longer, more meaningful partnerships which go beyond grant making. In the near future the Anglo American Foundation is working with the HR team to create opportunities to develop employee skills through volunteering. It also plans to invite employees from local areas with more in-depth knowledge of social needs, to be part of a committee to help with the decision making process and to help build lasting and meaningful relationships with charity beneficiaries.

View the presentation by Anglo American Group Foundation

Read our related blogs:

• The role of a corporate foundation in a responsible business
• The new born – Brewin Dolphin, established 2012
• The Grown-up – Zurich Community Trust, established 1973

Find out more about how CAF helps businesses develop CSR programmes on our website.

By Bethany Cox, Marketing Manager, CAF

Established in 1973, Zurich Community Trust is a pioneering corporate foundation and this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Pam Webb, Head of Zurich Community Trust Team, shared some pearls of wisdoms on creating a sustainable foundation at one of our events.

Align with the business
The secret of the Zurich Community Trust is that although it is a registered charity and not directly aligned with the business, it is embedded within the culture. The success of engaging employees with the foundation has been because of its separation from the business. Employees are able to give to the foundation through payroll giving, a staff lottery and fundraising. Evidence that the foundation is embedded in the hearts of employees come from statistics which show that even through the recession, employee donations to the foundation have increased from £77 per head in 2009 to £80 per head in 2012.

Develop long-term, sustainable partnerships
Zurich Community Trust only forms partnerships for a minimum of three years and most last for five years or more. In fact, its programme in India has been running for an incredible 18 years. Pam stated that in her opinion the ‘charity of the year’ approach adopted by some companies is not sustainable because it takes longer than a year to get a partnership working to full effect.

Use the skills of your employees
In addition to brokering volunteering opportunities for Zurich employees, the Trust has taken the more innovative approach of using employee volunteers as grant assessors and working with the Zurich Learning and Development department to use the skills of the graduates on its training scheme to create videos and webinars on topics such as project management to help charities.

Embed into the company culture
The activities of the Trust have no relation to insurance, but still adds sustainable business benefit and value to Zurich. By embedding the Trust into the culture of the business it creates a sense of pride amongst employees which although immeasurable, does have, Pam believes, a positive impact on productivity.

60% of employee volunteers claimed volunteering raised their sense of job satisfaction and 48% had more pride in Zurich as an employer.

“I feel very proud to work for Zurich because of the charity work that is carried out in and outside of the local community.  Because of the opportunities that I have had from working for Zurich I believe that I am much more involved in charity/community work than I perhaps would have been otherwise and this is certainly one of the reason why I have no intention to leave Zurich!”

View the presentation from Zurich Community Trust:

Read our related blogs:

• The role of a corporate foundation in a responsible business
• The new born – Brewin Dolphin, established 2012
• The Teenager – Anglo American Group Foundation, established 2005

Find out more about how CAF can help your business develop its CSR programme on our website.

By Daniel Knight, Company Relations Manager, CAF 

“You feel like you become a better person by helping others” – Tyler, aged 11

At CAF we never stop seeking to understand what demographics are giving and giving behaviours. We previously released our research Mind The Gap which shows a divide between generations and their giving habits – with ‘Baby Boomers’ (those born between 1945-1966) giving far more than Generations X and Y (those born from1965-1999),  and with over 50% of charitable donations now being made by people over the age of 60.

We have taken this a step further and are launching an inquiry into giving, the first strand of which looks at children and how they can grow up giving. Our report Growing Up Giving surveyed 1000 junior and secondary school children and has provided some really interesting insight into the charitable outlook of the next generation. Two particular points of interest to us here at Corporate Communities are:

• 63% of children agree that all businesses should give money to charity
• 33% of children would like to work for a charity

So what does this mean for your business?

Building your sustainable brand loyalty
It is important to remember that these young people are not only the next generation of givers, but they are the consumers of the future. It is encouraging that these young people are clearly attuned to corporate responsibility, and this could well be a result of programmes which positively engage young people. Two examples include:

• Sky Sports Living 4 Sport

• Greggs Breakfast Club

Considering these consumers of the future when you are communicating your social and charitable activity could go a long way to building brand loyalty for the future.

Business talent of the future
Potentially more interesting however is the second point. In the world of corporate social responsibility we often refer to how a well run and effective programme can help to recruit and retain talent. If a young person is actively considering working for a charity when they are old enough then why not a business with a strong sense of community investment or an ethical focus? As a generation that is growing up with the recession and who regularly hear about bankers bonuses and dodged taxes, will the talent of the future be more inclined to choose an ethical organisation when considering their career path? It would seem that if you want to attract the best talent in the future, you should be considering how you communicate to them now.

“If there weren’t charities, the world would be a worse place”

–Gemma, aged 11

Find out more

• Visit the Growing Giving campaign site to find out more about the report, campaign and inquiry.
• Continue the discussion in our LinkedIn group - CAF Corporate Communities