KLIPRIVIERSBERG – The big question at November’s GBP meeting was: Is it possible to increase social return on investment subsequently achieving mutual value?
CEO of Noah Sustainability Trust Karen Krakowitzer was the special guest speaker who used her expertise as a dynamic project/ programme manager to enlighten entrepreneurs, company representatives and NGO officials who were at the GBP meeting.
Krakowitzer demonstrated practically and theoretically how big, small and non-profit organisations could successfully strategise on driving positive change in communities. With her tactics businesses can achieve positive change while enhancing the businesses reputation, competitiveness, stakeholder relationships and ability to meet its operational requirements.
Some of the ways businesses can facilitate properly planned Corporate Social Investment (CSI) and B-BBEE is through partnerships, shared learnings, and measurement of impact.
According to Karen Krakowitzer, properly planned CSI and B-BBEE consists of the following pointers:
Government priorities; Alignment with products and services; Community engagement and needs assessments; Partnerships; Longer periods of commitment; Beginning with the end in mind; Intervention selection; Involving the customer, suppliers, stakeholders and employees; Improvement of your candidate brand; Communication/ visibility; Shared learning; Measurement of impact and Alignment of CSI and B-BBEE.
Partnerships can help when understanding who’s already working in that community and what they bring to the communities table. A partnership can be formed by your business and the company/ NGO already working in that community, which would be more effective instead of working against one another in competition.
“It’s very easy as a company to decide that you want to do good and to go into an environment for one day only, drop something off that you think will help and then leave again. The truth is to address problems, one needs to be a little more realistic about your approach, and to recognise that as an organisation you can’t do everything on your own as it’s just not possible,” explained Krakowitzer.
She added: “It’s about understanding who is already operating in those communities that you’re planning to serve to map them out. To understand what piece of the puzzle you are able to bring, to make sure that you are not competing with anyone else in bringing that piece.”
Krakowitzer explained that a donor/ funder needs to start their projects with a clear end period in mind. This is to give the NGO working in the community which they are donating funding to, foresight as to how they will sustain going forward, when the company providing additional funding withdraws.
“They need to know what’s the next step for the organisation when the company moves on,” said Krakowitzer. She advises that donors should not leave NGO’s “high and dry.”
On shared learning, the presentation revealed the importance of ensuring that the successful methods realised by a business in communities, which lead to a positive change, should be shared with others seeking to make positive impact in communities.
“Sharing is actually far better. Publish your learning/lessons if you can, as it would add to your credibility as the business that created an effective method to achieve positive change while enhancing the businesses reputation.”
Krakowitzer is certain that when others can learn from a business and what it’s achieved, it would enhance your businesses reputation.
On the measurement of impact; a social investment assessment and outcomes of the strategies should be demonstrated by how the company’s techniques enabled them to achieve business operational objectives and the impact it had on the community or environment and also the outcomes.
Businesses or donors need to also take into consideration intervention selection, because as a result of their intervention, they can prove the impact of their business in the community.
For more information, go to www.klipsa.co.za
