JOHANNESBURG – “Despite the private sector’s R50 billion-injection in 2010 into corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives aimed at upliftment, no dramatic shift in community wellbeing is evident in South Africa,” said Reana Rossouw, owner of Next Generation Consultants – a consultancy that advises corporates on sustainability and social responsibility excellence in business – at the [...]
THE CSI CURVE – SEVEN BUSINESS TRENDS SHAPING THE FUTURE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – Article by Reana Rossouw In today’s business world, the informed CEO makes strategic corporate social investment (CSI) decisions, aligned with core business interests. The excellent organisation integrates sustainability with business performance, and forms collaborative partnerships with government to influence policy and [...]
Measuring social impact and return on investment – The growing pressure for evidence: A unique South African Perspective: Introduction: How to measure the value and results of corporate social investment remains one of CSI Practitioners’ greatest challenges. Social and business benefits are often long-term or intangible, which make systematic measurement complex. And yet: Corporate grantmaking [...]
Some truths about grantmaking: It is sometimes hard to speak the truth about grantmaking. Corporate Grantmakers and Foundations have power and prestige. People are sometimes afraid to be candid. There is a real risk that foundation initiatives suffer the “emperor has no clothes” syndrome. The following section is deliberately controversial. The intent is to put [...]
First, some general observations: Generally grantmaking trails the economy by 1-2 years. Funders typically make their commitments prospectively. Thus, when their resources are growing, they promise to give more in the upcoming period. When resources are shrinking, they will commit to fewer and smaller donations. Psychology plays a significant role in how a funder views [...]
The million dollar question is – how can corporate giving and grantmaking be measured most effectively? It has become nearly a cliché in corporate giving and grant making to acknowledge the difficulty of evaluating program results. Some say it can’t be done with any useful degree of precision or standard for comparison. Others have built [...]
In the past, where money was considered a part of true philanthropy, the great traditions scrutinised what was required to make a financial gift spiritually aligned. In general, true philanthropy involved making the right gift to the right person at the right time and in the right way. It was considered a highly spiritual skill. [...]
Ask any Corporate Social Investment (CSI) practitioner if their company really understands what they are doing, and the answer may be no. They will tell you that their CEO does not get it, and the business does not appreciate the value of what they contribute. Some will even tell you it makes them worry about [...]
Current economic conditions have created an environment in which grantmaking of all types has become both increasingly challenging and especially important. Corporate grantmakers in particular are feeling the brunt of this Catch-22. “As budgets tighten corporate grantmaking is becoming unapologetically value-added. Gone for now are the days when companies could give money just to be [...]
A decade ago, deeply integrating a socially responsible value proposition into a brand was a fresh idea embraced by entrepreneurial companies like Ben & Jerry’s, The Body Shop and Starbucks. Now there are over 100,000 pages on corporate websites dealing with corporate social responsibility (CSR), over 600 books listed on Amazon and more than 50 [...]
