Charity begins in the workplace

Published on Saturday 22 December 2007 13:02

"THEY'RE such a great company and they really do such a lot for charity," a corporate PR woman coos down the telephone.

Another writes in an e-mail: "'Tis the season of goodwill and we have this year decided to donate our entire Christmas card budget to the British Red Cross."

There's no time like Christmas when it comes to the private sector trying to prove how caring and sharing it is.

In the past few years it has become the norm in December for corporate press teams to shamelessly exploit bad Cliff Richard lyrics, proclaiming that "it's a time for giving" in order to generate publicity around their charitable donations.

With politicians and campaigners constantly pushing messages about "corporate social responsibility", companies are feeling the pressure to prove how they give something back to society.

Though such activities look like little more than cynical PR exercises, corporate giving is now big business. According to the latest figures from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the umbrella organisation for charities, UK companies collectively donate nearly 400m a year. Some larger firms such as HBOS have specialist charitable foundations dishing out grants to social and environmental projects.

Although some of the sums involved are questionable compared to companies' overall turnover, it's a trend most charities welcome with open arms. For many voluntary sector organisations, which don't want to rely on restrictive Government contracts, corporate donations are a vital source of income.

Even so, there is still a sense that companies could do more – and it's not just a question of cold, hard cash. There is a growing trend among UK charities to ask large corporations for their time and business know-how as well.

More charities are trying to move away from their traditional image of OAPs running services in the local village hall, and are trying to operate like fully professional businesses. Several are even setting up trading arms to generate income through commercial means.

As such, they have found that they are in need of skills such as knowing how to draw up a business plan and manage their finances properly which, for a voluntary organisation, is almost as valuable as a cheque for a few hundred pounds.

As Peter McCall, a campaigner for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, explains: "The benefits that voluntary sector organisations derive from corporates are greatly enhanced as part of a relationship rather than a one-off donation.

"There's been a move in the voluntary sector to use social enterprise business models to generate finance from trading, rather than being 100% dependent on grants. That means there's a lot more they can learn from business."

According to Angela McCusker, chief executive of Pilotlight Scotland, a charity which pairs businesses with local voluntary organisations, the long-term impact of companies transferring knowledge can often be far greater than a monetary contribution. "The need for skills in the voluntary sector is much greater now than it ever was in the past," she says. "It (skills transfer] has a much longer-term impact."

According to the volunteering charity CSV, the benefits the company derives is often greater as well.

Lesley Nicholls, volunteering business manager at CSV, says: "Possibly the strongest advantage volunteering has over donating money are the HR benefits. Our own research has found 83% of employees prefer to work for a company with an employee volunteering project and nearly a quarter (22%] say they are less likely to leave a job where there is a scheme in place."

With the credit crunch taking its toll on the UK business community and talk of companies having to cut down their staffing budgets in the new year, charities are urging companies to look at mentoring and volunteering projects as a way of increasing their corporate social responsibility contributions.

Lisa Dransfield, external affairs manager at Scottish Business in the Community, says: "Corporate volunteering can form an important part of a company's corporate responsibility strategy allowing them to engage with their local community and to develop their staff."

However, McCall warns that companies should not use this new trend as an excuse to cut charitable donations entirely. "It shouldn't be a case of either or," he says.