I should declare a personal interest in a number of the organisations I have profiled in this book, insofar as I have worked with them on a consulting basis to implement or overhaul their strategy for contribution and engagement with the community. There are also a number of case studies from companies whose presence or position I would love to take the credit for, but sadly I cannot. The entrepreneurial vision of Blake Mycoskie, the founder and ‘Chief Shoe Giver’ at TOMS, is an obvious choice. What I love most about the work of TOMS is the sheer simplicity that sees the model work so effectively. No messy formulas, no percentages from gross or net profits, just one for one. As a businessman Mycoskie has done very nicely from his social venture, and in my mind there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The community can only benefit by encouraging and applauding those who, like Mycoskie, bring their skills and vision to this sector, rather than losing them to the corporate world.
Mycoskie doesn't have all the answers to the problems in developing countries; he doesn't pretend to. Is his model the only one to follow? Maybe not, but there are several million people in the developing world who, but for TOMS, would not have shoes on their feet today. And that has to be a good thing. Mycoskie was always going to be a huge success and make a stack of money, given his eye for opportunities and ability to turn concept into reality, and the children of Argentina, Nepal, Malawi, Kenya and Ethiopia are better off as a result of TOMS’ commercial success.
If you have CSR attached to your job description, unless you are with quite a large organisation, there is a good chance this is not your only role. You may also be wearing a marketing or internal communications hat and CSR is just something the executive team thought should sit with you when they looked for a home for it on the org chart. Their thinking reflects how they see it: ‘It's a nice thing to have in the organisation, but it's not sales, that's for sure. It's not operational. It's the softer side of things.’ Even those of you who are working in a dedicated CSR role will probably have come from marketing, PR or internal comms. How does the fact that you work in marketing or communications qualify you to make the best decisions on something that can be so important to the business, and has so much potential if the resources are appropriately allocated?
You might rightly ask the same question of me. How does working in the forensic area investigating major crime for 20 years make me an authority on this? My answer is: the experience of setting up the international aid organisation Hands Across the Water, a charity that now operates in three countries and raises several million dollars a year for distribution to hundreds of children across various sites in Thailand. And it's not so much the establishment of the charity as it is observing the success that has come from creating opportunities for our supporters along the way to share in the experiences.
I'm fortunate that I can travel on both sides of the road. As the founder and leader of the charity I see what type of sponsorship, involvement and relationships work best for the charity. Contrary to popular belief, just because you draw a seven-figure salary or work for an international accounting firm, it doesn't mean you have all the answers for small to medium-sized NFPs. A recent comment in The New York Times from the head of a charity summed it up pretty well: ‘If I get another volunteer I am going to go out of business.’ As a consultant building these programs for businesses, I understand what they are looking for and where the opportunities lie. I understand what is going to work with the charity and create lasting relationships. By playing in both spaces it's a bit like running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds.
The message
What I hope that those working within the corporate or business world will take from this book is the idea that there is another way of interacting with society. It's not wrong for your business to benefit from the interaction; in fact, it's a damned sight better for all involved if you do benefit commercially from your activities in this space. The position that Unilever Global has taken on business growth and sustainable activities is ‘out there’, to say the least. It has attached its sustainability goals to the remuneration packages of its senior management team. Now there is a company that is driving its stake firmly into the ground.
There are a couple of shifts I see that are needed to move from the old paradigm of giving without any real expectation of return, other than publicity as a good corporate citizen, to the new paradigm of integrating shared value into the business. The first is the recognition that real benefits do exist and it can drive new business opportunities. The second, and probably most important for Australians, is being okay with saying, ‘I want to make money out of our social venture’. When those words can be spoken without drawing gasps or looks of disbelief around the room, we are on the way.
The message in this book for the charity and NFP is accepting there is another way of doing things. If you don't accept change you won't grow, and you are likely to see your effectiveness and influence diminish over time.
Many charities, particularly those that have been around for some time, either have accepted the need to change and continued to evolve in their operations, with their funding attached to the provision of services, or are watching their market share of the charity dollar slip further and further. For charities to grow or even survive in such a competitive marketplace they need to do things differently. This means not simply asking for money. Dan Pallotta, a charity founder and someone with strong views on how charities should spend their dollars, believes that people actually want to contribute and reach their full potential. And the traditional support of charities through the donation of a portion of people's income is not coming close to tapping the potential.
For charities to grow or even survive in such a competitive marketplace they need to do things differently.
I spend a lot of my time in front of other charities of small to medium size who want to know how we at Hands have successfully captured our share of the marketplace. Usually my advice can be simplified to these points:
• Create an experience to bring your supporters closer to what you are doing.
• Ensure you tell the story of what you are doing and the difference you are making, and inspire them sufficiently to want to tell your story.
• Help your corporate partners to find a way to maximise their investment in your charity.
It should go without saying – but I'll say it anyway – that if a charity already has the heart, mind and wallet of a supporter, it will stand to benefit if that supporter can improve their business through the relationship. If charity leaders are better educated about why business would want to engage with them and how their partners can profit from the experience, then the power in the relationship will shift towards one of equal footing. Rather than sending off your founder or chief fundraiser to ask for more, like a grown-up Oliver Twist, enable your charity leaders to bring value to the table. A lot of the lessons in this book are not rocket science; in fact, none are based on science on any level at all. Rather, they are based on the concept of shared value and looking to create mutually beneficial relationships. The book will provide the charity leader with a road map for helping their partners to find rewards in the way they give and to measure their returns.
Charity boards seldom have the same pressure to perform as a commercial board does. The shareholders of a company have skin in the game, they have a voice and they have a vote. They expect the directors on the board to perform and bring them a return, or they are out the door. The expectations on a charity board, while not insignificant, are different and generally less onerous. They are seldom held to account in the way a commercial board is. What comes with this greater