When the Big Four pull in one direction, it's win-win

THE names Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are competitors in the arena of delivering accounting and other professional services, but last December, the Big Four came together to do good during the season of goodwill and peace.

The event that brought them together for the first time was an online Christmas bazaar that gathered 43 merchants, which included social enterprises serving a range of beneficiaries.

For example, Design For Good, an initiative under Make The Change, a social enterprise, had an array of tote bags, pouches and carpets designed by its beneficiaries to offer for sale. These flew off the bazaar's virtual shelves and set a revenue record.

Pedro Adrian Aguirre, co-founder of Make The Change (an integrated creative agency that provides digital marketing, advertising and design services for corporates and non-government groups), said: "Through the event, we made a few thousand dollars within a week for our three main beneficiaries - marginalised women, youth at risk and those with disabilities."

Like most non-profit organisations, Make The Change needed the help in a year when the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult for charities to hold physical fund-raising activities.

The National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) noted that many non-profit organisations had cancelled or postponed their fund-raising events, dealing a body blow to funds they would otherwise have raised.

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Victor Chua, founder of online marketplace Fairmarch, said: "It was then we saw an opportunity to provide companies with an online platform that could ... introduce an element of doing good, and we realised that it would be more impactful for the Big Four companies to synergise their efforts by having a joint event."

EY got on board. Panneer Selvam, EY Singapore Corporate Responsibility chair, said the firm saw the possibility, amid the pandemic, of expanding the scale of its existing annual Christmas bazaar by going online and collaborating with other partners to amplify its efforts during the season of giving.

"We then reached out to the other firms (Deloitte, KPMG, PwC) and online marketplace Fairmarch, which led to the birth of the first-ever Big Four Christmas Charity Bazaar."

Halogen Foundation Singapore, a beneficiary of Deloitte, was another merchant at the bazaar. Its Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) programme runs financial literacy workshops and teaches students to recognise entrepreneurial opportunities.

Ivy Tse, its chief executive, said taking part in the bazaar raised the firm's exposure to other organisations.

"It is always good to see different organisations coming together to serve a common goal of doing good, as it concentrates the efforts and multiplies the impact for every party involved."

KPMG partner Lee Sze Yeng, who heads KPMG Cares in KPMG Singapore, agreed, and added that the Big Four Christmas bazaar was built on the concept that they were stronger together.

She added that the collaboration also raised public awareness of the charities and social enterprises, in addition to embedding the spirit of giving among the Big Four's staff.

"We recognised that by joining forces, we would be able to amplify efforts and create greater social impact. There is no competition when it comes to serving the community.

"Regularly speaking to our charity partners like the NVPC also gives us the opportunity to tap its resources and experience to understand ground sentiment and to explore how we can collaborate with like-minded organisations."

Events of such scale come with challenges, and this one was no different.

A new experience

Jeanette Juay, director of Clients & Markets at Deloitte Singapore, said: "We were all new at organising a virtual charity bazaar, and learnt from each other along the way - such as what the offerings should be, and how we should engage with the public."

EY's Mr Selvam said: "As with any initiative that involves multiple companies working together for the first time, we found out about each other's work styles and the organisational requirements for getting the initiative off the ground.

"However, as we are all professional organisations, we were able to appreciate the processes and requirements needed to get this project going."

Fairmarch's Mr Chua said: "Looking back, the key challenge for us was getting the stakeholders to align their approach in terms of what this platform would achieve, as well as how to go about doing it.

"That required multiple conversations to reach consensus. It really helped that everyone was passionate about doing good and went in with an open mind to collaborate and adapt."

He added that the idea of philanthropy has typically been skewed towards cash donations. However, socially-conscious consumers are expecting companies to walk the talk, and their employees also want to be engaged. So, as companies think about how to give back effectively, there are synergies to be tapped into, by partnering companies that share similar CSR (corporate social responsibility) goals.

All the four accounting firms are Champions of Good, a recognition conferred to organisations that have done well in going good, and being recognised as such has encouraged their employees to make a positive difference by contributing their time and talents to help the underprivileged in the community and making financial contributions that make a difference to those who receive them, said Deloitte's Ms Juay.

"The coming together of the Big Four with Fairmarch connected us with other social enterprises to explore possible collaboration opportunities, and opened us up to more ideas.

"This effort was a win-win for all as the social enterprises gained greater exposure to potential partners and donors for future fundraising initiatives."

Metta Welfare Association, a beneficiary of EY, was registered as a society in 1994, and now serves more than 1,250 beneficiaries of all ages, providing community services in areas such as health care and special education.

Arts@Metta teamed up with Burger King to create art pieces to sell at the online bazaar, riding on the fast food chain's platform to publicise its efforts.

Stephanie Goh, assistant manager of Arts@Metta, said: "Through the collaboration with Fairmarch, Arts@Metta had the privilege to meet and work with like-minded organisations. ...We had the opportunity to explore and create new artworks using our signature batik medium."

She added that collaborative projects like these present opportunities for more effective use of resources in the community and eliminate duplication of efforts. "By tapping each other's strengths and capabilities, there is more potential to gain insights and create greater social impact that is meaningful."

• Champions of Good recognises organisations that are exemplary in doing good. Check out the full featured highlights of our Champions of Good 2020 at companyofgood.sg/champions