How can you make your company's philanthropic initiatives meaningful and impactful?

In addition to the above it is critical to target those in need of support and assistance. This can be done through various targeting mechanisms using the location of potential beneficiaries and their social and economic conditions. As an example, Agro-business multinationals may want to support small farmers located in remote rural areas with limited access to market, health, education and leaving with less than a dollar equivalent a day by providing support through training, micro credit systems, access to market, etc…

Estoy convencida que el impacto social es mucho más que filantropía que más allá de eso, es una estrategia de negocio que puede generar resultados económicos si se tiene una estrategia sólida bien comunicada dentro y fuera de la organización obviamente alineado a las ODS. Igual de importante es las alianzas estratégicas multisectoriales crear proyectos de impacto con todos los sectores (empresa, gobierno, ONGs y universidades) garantiza la sostenibilidad del proyecto o inversión social. Entre otros beneficios.

Make it an authentic, business-strategy aligned effort to deliver win-win solutions for stakeholders and for the company. No one expects a for-profit company to not seek such alignment with their business .... however, avoid doing philanthropy only for PR .... and strategically make gifts toward objectives that the stakeholders themselves wish to improve. Win-win. And measure and report the results, both good and bad.

Build in-depth understanding about your target audience and keep them in sight while taking any decision. Also, choose the implementing organizations carefully.

It's crucial to engage with the experts in communities and trust that they really ARE the experts. They understand local need and the infrastructure/organisations who are responding to that need. Don't parachute in with your own agenda and force this onto an organisation or community - work with them collaboratively to understand mutual goals and how they can be achieved. And in the process of measuring impact, make sure the metrics that are being implemented/data captured, can add value to your partner organisation too - there is often an opportunity cost in completing the reporting that funders request, and that's taking resource away from critical service delivery. Be prepared to have open and honest conversations about mutual goals.

Too many organizations throw money at charitable organizations without having a clear plan, identified objectives, or even having determined the types of philanthropic endeavours that align with their business. By setting SMART goals and metrics, an organization can articulate the outcomes that are important to them, be strategic with allocating funding choices, measure progress along the way, and course correct when things aren’t working the way they had initially intended.

A well designed framework not just for monitoring but for timely sharing milestones and learning helps to contribute to the impact of philanthropic initiatives

While setting SMART goals for philanthropic initiatives, it is important to not turn this into a perpetual "aid" or "donation" initiative. The purpose of philanthropy must not be to make the recipients of this intervention dependent on you forever, but, to get them out of a poverty or behavioral trap that has kept them where they are today. The larger goal has to be to create a community self-sustaining solution with a clear exit-timeline defined for a corporate/doners. With this, the aim will always be to create structures, institutions or knowledge mechanisms which outlast the presence of the intervener in that domain.

Always look at the “Why” when you take time out to really think about “why” you’re taking up such an initiative, it influences the outcome.

In my experience, the following must be considered: 1. Clearly establish a clear mission and vision statement for your efforts. 2. Prior research must be conducted to assess the needs and challenges of the communities or causes you aim to support. 3. Engage key stakeholders such as employees in the decision-making process to foster a sense of ownership and commitment. 4. Set measurable goals/KPIs to track the progress & impact of the initiatives. This will also help with course correcting when/if the need be. 5. Regularly evaluate the impact of your initiatives by collecting data, feedback, and success stories and use this information to communicate the positive change you are creating to stakeholders.

Wir haben gute Erfahrungen damit gemacht unsere Mitarbeitenden von Beginn an einzubinden. Alle können Vorschlägen machen für unser philantrophisches Engagement und im Anschluss stimmen wir darüber ab.

This tip has two aspects. Firstly, you should engage all your stakeholders in your CSR: employee volunteering, consumer donations (e.g. donate your data by Optus or rounding up for good in some checkouts) and shareholder activism. Secondly, you should engage all your stakeholders through your CSR - integrate them into the conversation, communicate outcomes, and involve them in your pathway to generate even more positive impact.

People cannot support what they don’t know about! Know your audience and how best they receive information is it will words or video work better, what time of day, who should the communication come from? how long should it be? What’s the ask? Whatever you do be authentic!

L’Authenticité doit être, quels que soit les moyens de communication. Pour que cela sonne juste, il faut que cela environnementalement, socialement, humainement vrai. C’est avant tout une question d’incarnation. Le message est naturellement porté par les équipes. Quand le collectif adhère, la communication est simplement juste.

To be more impactful, a company must first of all identify a Sustainable developement goal aligned with its own vision to invest on it. Then Communicate the positive impact that their commitment bring to the community.

In my experience at JTI, where I managed business sustainability projects, engaging and involved stakeholders is most paramount in ensuring CSR initiatives are not only impactful but also sustainable. Project ownership comes naturally if people are involved in what you do…. The impact comes as a consequence.

In social responsibility projects, it’s crucial for the commitments made by a company to genuinely hold value for the target audience. These promises should go beyond mere corporate gestures, aiming to touch people’s lives in a positive way. Whether it’s supporting local communities, engaging in environmentally friendly initiatives, or advocating for social justice, these commitments should reflect a dedication to a common goal of creating a better and more meaningful world. This human-centered approach not only strengthens the emotional connection with customers but also positions the company as a socially responsible ally, fostering a sense of community and shared values.

Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of philanthropic initiatives. Share measurable results with stakeholders to demonstrate the tangible outcomes of their collective efforts. Every year, you should review your KPIs and strike to improve your programs. Learn what work well and what does not, reach out to peers and network, learn best practice and apply to your programs to make them better.

Tracking is critical, and you can’t improve what isn’t measured. But - that said - the work must be solid to begin with. Measuring something that’s average won’t make it amazing. Is your philanthropic worked tied to a broader Social Impact North Star that is connected to your company/brand? Are you breathing life into this work in a robust way across the organization? Cutting a check is a start, but when it’s not backed up by the business of the business - or worse, negated by it - the strategy is off. Great impact work is a series of daily decisions across the organization to do better that stream into to clear KPIs and build up toward ambitious AND achievable work.

Always keep the conversation open with all your stakeholders to learn and improve. You'd be surprised by the low number of employees who read your CSR report - you need to actively and proactively engage them in what you have done, what you can do better, and in your learning and improvement. Keep asking the hard questions - are we doing enough? What higher purpose do we serve? What else can we do?

“Corporate Philanthropy” remains a distant and unfamiliar term for many people - employees and employers. There’s a good feeling and positive internal messaging attached to corporate philanthropy. But I find these are somewhat disingenuous when philanthropy hides dysfunctional relationships and behaviours in corporations whose social license is questionable and whose reputations are marked by mysogyny and inequity. Little wonder that employees as internal stakeholders are either disinterested in or disenfranchised from the corporate philanthropy of their employers.

Never confuse philanthropy with corporate social responsibility (csr) or sustainable business practices. Philanthropy is about supporting good causes, aligned with your company profile or not. Csr is about your core business, your supply chain, your core competencies and your own clients. It is about the stuff managers get bonuses for -or not. Guidelines like the GRI, CSRD or IIRC also stress this focus on 'materiality' in csr.

In my experience aligning philanthropic initiatives to strategic objectives will have a collective social, economic and environmental impact BUT it has to be an authentic partnership. 1. Align to balanced business strategy 2. Engage employees 3. Engage community, stakeholders, customers 4. Make it part of your market and employee value proposition 5. Maintain momentum - share stories and examples about the differences being made and how your business supports this to happen. One of my favourite exercises with organisations is to help them recast strategic plans to be far less complex with pillars that sit across people, planet, product and performance, clearly enabling scope for partnerships that align to core areas 👌

Be authentic. I encouraged companies to focus on how to promote the Māori language throughout their business and throughout the year, not just during Māori Language Week when it is our nation's highest trending hashtag. And they got it. That's why we have bilingual checkout machines in supermarkets as government departments are starting to put the Māori language at the back of the bus again. Businesses can sometimes be the moral compass we need when governments try to lead us in the wrong direction.

Incorporating sustainability & environmental considerations into philanthropic initiatives is increasingly important. Hence, I've led projects where our philanthropic efforts also contributed to environmental conservation, aligning with broader global sustainability goals Encouraging active feedback & participation from employees in shaping philanthropic initiatives can lead to more engaging & effective programs. This inclusive approach has been beneficial in my work, as it brings diverse perspectives & develops a sense of ownership among employees Understanding & respecting local cultures &contexts is crucial. In my global projects, I've ensured that our philanthropic efforts are appropriately tailored to the local environment

In South Africa, because giving is legislated, it's become a bit of a tick-box exercise - a meeting of a legal requirement, rather than something meaningful and that adds value to the business and the all-important bottom line. By following these useful guidelines, and really involving all of the stakeholders, from staff to beneficiary NPOs and really listening to their input, it places companies in a position to co-create a philanthropic ecosystem that not only offers significant change in their constituencies, but provides excellent opportunities to leverage the company as a great employer, business partner, offering a tangible, as well as social return on investment.

Great insights. I am of the opinion that CSR is broader than corporate philanthropy. For example, from the perspective of Stakeholders Engagement, Corporate Philanthropy is focused on primarily engaging with the charitable organizations or beneficiaries receiving the donations. It may not involve extensive engagement with a broader range of stakeholders. I would suggest an upgrade from philanthropy to CSR where engagement is done with a wide array of stakeholders, including customers, employees, communities, and regulatory bodies. It fosters transparent and collaborative relationships with these stakeholders to address social and environmental challenges. This way, greater and more measurable impact are achieved.