CSR and Charity

Some companies give generously to charity as part or even all of their contribution to social responsibility. But what authority do directors have to give away money, which belongs to their shareholders? The only answer must be that money given to charity has long term benefits to the fundamental purpose and objectives of the company.

In today’s economic circumstances with public sector budgets being cut and the funding of charities shrinking due to government funding cuts and pressure on donors purchasing power, the corporate role in charitable funding and volunteering has become much more significant. Therefore charities and companies must both seek to find common ground in the work that they do.

The means to do this is through aligning the company’s overall strategy and its CSR objectives with the purpose of the charity. This is best achieved not through one off donations or volunteering events, but by developing partnerships and sustainable relationships that benefit the community in which the company is located, providing facilities and services that enable people to lead more productive lives and feel proud of their work place.

There are many historical examples of companies that have thrived on these principles, Unilever, John Lewis, the Co-operative to name just a few, who have built on those successful traditions and continue to operate today under those same founding principles.

In our CSR work we have worked with a number of charities to help them create links with corporate responsibility objectives and focus their efforts on building relationships with companies that share a common outlook and objectives.

We are currently working with Demelza, a children’s hospice based in Kent and South London. Like all charities they are finding their resources stretched in the current environment and need to be able to say something different to a company that has many calls on its time and resources, to make them different and worthy of that extra attention. Focusing on CSR objectives has enabled them to establish relationships with a number of new donors.

We are also working with the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) who are an aid agency working in Africa and Latin America to provide rural communities with access to energy. Over 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity, so while we are quite rightly concerned about the price and security of supply, their everyday living is constrained by lack of something we all take for granted. Our role is to help them find exploration companies who are developing large infrastructure projects in these areas and want to provide facilities for their local communities. GVEP provide the skills and knowledge to enable local SME’s to set up business providing energy to their communities, backed by, but independent of, the international company running the development project.

These are just a couple of ideas of how companies can align their objectives with those of a charity, justifying the expenditure to their shareholders and creating long term value for all.

Think of them, not so much as charities, more as strategic business partners