Leading the change in corporate giving

STUFFING bags full of unperishable goods, dropping by an elderly home, and signing off on a fat cheque - that's the traditional face of corporate volunteerism. But some companies are determined to create more meaningful impact, and they're leading the change.

According to the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre's (NVPC) Corporate Giving Survey in 2017, 52 per cent of companies engaged in some form of corporate giving, while a further 31 per cent were keen to start.

But even as corporate donations and volunteering continue to rise, the landscape of corporate giving is undergoing a transformation.

"In the past, most organisations did not view corporate social responsibility (CSR) as requiring a full-time headcount," said Panneer Selvam, EY Singapore corporate responsibility chair.

"But now, many organisations realise the importance of having someone dedicated to focus on this."

Acknowledging the benefits of CSR to the community and their own organisation and employees, many companies today are planning for long-term impact in their approaches to corporate giving, even writing it into their business goals.

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"The sweet spot will be where the pursuit of profit blends very seamlessly with the pursuit of common good," said Apriani Kartika, head of community investment at Prudential Singapore. "It's all about the triple bottom-line concept of people, planet and profit."

Panneer and Apriani, both graduates of the Company of Good Fellowship, a talent development programme run by NVPC, agree that tackling root problems, leveraging on strengths, and strong partnerships are instrumental to achieving more sustainable social impact.

While she asserted that monetary and ad hoc support still has its place in plugging gaps temporarily, Apriani noted that these are often seasonal forms of support, overwhelming during peak periods such as Chinese New Year or Christmas, but otherwise lacking.

Panneer concurred: "I think a lot of it is touching the surface level. But if you do not solve the root problem, it's a vicious cycle and it's going to keep coming back again and again."

To meet EY's goal of impacting 1 billion lives globally by 2030, Panneer believed that a shift away from traditional CSR was necessary.

"There is much more we can do in this space," he said. "So there's a lot of sharing during the entire Fellowship programme by various organisations, where we see the deeper issues that society is facing."

Putting learning into action, EY has worked with students with disabilities from Mountbatten Vocational School to prepare them for internship placements and future careers.

EY's volunteers ran workshops and paired up with students to coach them to develop their CVs.

Prudential's Seniors' Wellbeing Masterclass is another example of an initiative that aims to address underlying systemic issues, working towards its purpose of helping people get the most out of life.

Rather than only organising craft sessions or outings for seniors, as it has done pre-Covid, Prudential's volunteers integrated some of these activities conducted classes in arts, nutrition and technology in a 6-week course, after which seniors took home a skills kit that would encourage them to apply what they learnt.

"If you bring them out on an excursion, they won't feel lonely for a day. But what about the next day, and what about the day after?" Apriani said.

By empowering seniors to stay mentally and physically engaged and digitally connected, Prudential hopes to target their social isolation.

But beneficiaries aren't the only ones who gain from the more intentional support.

"Our people feel more engaged. People feel more connected to the firm. And people do feel: 'We don't just have a purpose statement, we live our purpose statement'," Panneer said.

Apriani said that Prudential has seen more regular volunteers among employees, adding that an internal survey found community investment ranked as one of the top values among employees.

While both companies built on the strength of their own employees, they also understand the worth of working with the right partners.

Like-minded business professionals with a common vision had opportunities to collaborate through activities when the Fellowship programme was run physically.

Even when Covid-19 forced it to move online, companies continued to work together on action projects.

"The idea is actually to harness our collective resources, expertise and assets," said Apriani.

Prudential, through its Healthy with KidSTART programme, co-developed with KidSTART Singapore, gives young children from low-income families a healthier start to life.

Similarly, in a collaboration with the National Library Board, EY had partnered with Curious Squirrels, a social enterprise, to facilitate a robotics workshop for children. Lego, another partner in the initiative, provided Lego coding kits and tablets.

"There's so much focus on automation and robotics in the world today, so we wanted to give them a taste of it as well," Panneer said.

Panneer and Apriani continue to lead industry transformation, representing their companies as members of the Alliance for Action on Corporate Purpose, launched in February this year. Spearheaded by the NVPC, it aims to create a business ecosystem that supports and enables corporates to align purpose and profit.

"It's good that we are going to have a national blueprint, for us to come together and create that framework," Apriani said.

Panneer said: "The more you learn, the more you share, There's no trade secret when it comes to doing CSR."

• Applications for the Company of Good Fellowship are now open. Apply at www.companyofgood.sg/fellowship