Human Resources

Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 jan 2017

Creating long-term and sustainable partnerships between businesses and nonprofits, can play a valuable role in tackling social challenges facing communities. Hussein Farah, founder and executive director of New Vision Foundation, explains how nonprofits can build partnerships with corporations and derive benefits from these meaningful relationships for the communities they serve - (1) Have a strong and relevant mission that provides distinctive value to the community and relates to the values of a corporate partner and identifies it as a significant contributor. (2) Leadership of nonprofits should effectively and compellingly communicate the mission to the corporate partner. Strong marketing effort is required that embodies the mission and displays business sense. (3) Nonprofits should create a solid board that assists in dissemination of its value proposition on a peer-to-peer basis. Boards that include corporate members would be more effective in negotiating the terms of partnerships. Moreover, nonprofits must be clear in their expectations from corporate partners, who should beforehand know their resource commitments. Read on...

Star Tribune: Building partnerships between corporations and nonprofits can produce big payoffs
Author: Jack Militello

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 21 jan 2017

Building a successful CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program requires commitment, consistency, continuity and culture within an organization. Claudia Schiepers, Chief Marketing Officer of Greystone and winner of The CMO Club's CSR Award'2016, helped promote a culture-centric curriculum for CSR and shares valuable insights to inspire marketing leaders to develop a successful CSR program in their organizations - (1) Start from the ground up: 'We try to engrain it in everything that we do. I would say start small, test and grow it from within the company...It's all about making suggestions, trying things out and then rolling them out across the organization.' (2) Assemble a top-notch toolbox: 'We gave them a lot of tools. We have employee engagement data that we share with managers, (teaching) them how to have difficult conversations and great conversations. So, it's all about empowering the managers in your company to use the system, having your employees feel like they are involved in it.' (3) Give instruction: Developed a culture book that outlines standards of behavior when it comes to being charitable. 'We say, at Greystone, (caring) means being interested in or concerned about the wellbeing of others. It means that you actively listen, keep an open mind, seek to understand, treat people with respect and kindness. We don't allow yelling. Mentor others, foster other's development, lead by example.' (4) Know that if you build it, they will come: Strikes a balance between good PR and sincerity by publicly commending their local offices' good deeds on social media platforms. 'I think that makes the story more powerful because it is not a corporate driven initiative. We don't do it to get a pat on the back afterwards. I think that's the key for our social responsibility. That is the biggest return on the investment, that we get people that care about other people to join our company.' Read on...

AdAge: Four Tips for Building Sustainable CSR
Author: Drew Neisser

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 nov 2016

Philanthropic giving continued to thrive in US and exceeded US$ 373 billion in 2015. Educational institutions got 12.86% (US$ 48 billion) of the total. As public funding to education gets reduced, colleges and universities are realigning strategic objectives and development goals to suit the funding priorities for donors and organizations. Donors have their own criteria to determine the funding goals that make an impact. According to Charles Koch, businessman and philanthropist, 'It is simply identifying organizations which want to make life better by empowering free will and enterprise. I decided that I wanted to give as many people as possible ideas so that they could transform their lives. That's been my motivation.' Michael Lomax, President and CEO of UNCF.org, recently shared his views on the potential for social modeling between UNCF and Charles Koch Foundation, and their US$ 29 million partnership for tuition assistance and career development. He says, 'The success of this program lies in our shared vision that a mind - and a life - is a terrible thing to waste. It is why our partnership's ultimate goal is to give students the opportunity to explore the values and skills of an entrepreneur, and better understand how an entrepreneurial mindset will benefit both them and their communities.' Nicholas Perkins, Founder and CEO of Perkins Management Services Inc, explains about his support to Howard University, 'Anytime that a minority company has an opportunity to partner with an historically black institution, that partnership should be the base from which growth and progress for that particular campus comes. So we always try to fit ourselves into that puzzle.' Educational institutions often find funding success by proactively tapping into the goodwill of graduates and stakeholders. Miami University of Ohio invested a substantial amount from its fundraising campaign towards enhancing academic programming in media studies, writing and gerontology. It launched 'Miami Plan', a 36-credit hour course mandate for all students to be immersed in and appreciative of the impact of liberal arts across all career paths. Gregory Crawford, President of Miami University of Ohio, says, 'For me, people don't expect a physicist to have such a passion for the liberal arts, but it had such a big impact on my life, my leadership style and my interests. I couldn't be more enthusiastic in sharing how it helped me to learn about human flourishing and in thinking more holistically, which was super important to me in the physics world.' He adds, 'Many of our own alums and donors understand the value of the education provided to them, and they love what we're doing with the Miami plan, so they freely invest in that vision.' Read on...

Education Dive: What inspires people, corporations to give to higher education?
Author: Jarrett Carter

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 29 oct 2016

Conflicts and wars, apart from taking human lives, causing destruction and displacing ordinary people, also disturbs affected children's educational future and creates regional human resources imbalances. The ongoing Syrian Civil War has led to an estimated quarter-million young people getting deprived of college education. Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of UK and currently UN Special Envoy for Global Education, explains collaborative role of charities, philanthropists and nonprofit foundations to overcome educational deprivation of displaced students. He advocates the need of realizing the potential of social enterprises to fill the gaps in global education. He says, 'With 260 million children not in school worldwide, education needs more champions to match the enthusiasm of advocates in, say, the global-health and environmental movements. There is more room for innovation in education than in any other international-development sector, especially as digital technologies and the Internet become more accessible even in the world's poorest regions.' He shares how Catalyst Trust for Universal Education, an education focused social entperise founded by former New York University President John Sexton, is helping out in global education efforts. Catalyst Trust participates in PEER (Platform for Education in Emergencies Response) project intended to connect college-ready Syrian refugees with refugee-ready colleges. Explaining the future of PEER project, he comments, 'In time, PEER will serve as a conduit to higher education for displaced students worldwide, and it will cater to all education levels, by providing web-based information, points of contact, and much-needed counseling and support.' He advocates support to social startups like Catalyst Trust, that are working on various aspects of education globally. He encourages education reformers to learn from pioneering work of Sir Ronald Cohen on social-impact investing. He cites some specific pilot projects that individuals and organizations can support to make a difference in education - help refugee students in their education; human-rights education to determine how school curricula can best cultivate inter-faith understanding; help the two million students who are blind or visually impaired, and whose educational needs have long been neglected. With new technology, we can now leapfrog the 150-year-old braille system and instantly render text into audio recordings, making all types of learning materials accessible to the visually impaired. Mr. Brown concludes, 'For anyone who cares about education, our task is clear: to furnish millions of poor people, especially in the remotest parts of the world, with the innovations they need to transform and improve their lives through learning. As the Catalyst Trust intends to show, a little social enterprise goes a long way.' Read on...

Project Syndicate: Education Needs Social Enterprise
Author: Gordon Brown

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 30 sep 2016

According to the first experts' poll conducted by Thomson Reuters Foundation (poll2016.trust.org), in partnership with Deutsche Bank, the Global Social Entrepreneurship Network (GSEN) and UnLtd, the top nations for social entrepreneurs are - (1) United States (2) Canada (3) United Kingdom (4) Singapore (5) Israel (6) Chile (7) South Korea (8) Hong Kong (9) Malaysia (10) France. The poll included survey of about 900 social enterprise experts (social entrepreneurs, academics, investors, policy-makers and support networks) in the world's 45 biggest economies. 85% of the experts said the number of social entrepreneurs finding ways of combining business with social purpose was growing although there is little data tracking the sector. According to Natalia Oberti Noguera, founder of Pipeline Angels (US), 'If someone's interested in financial return on investment, that's not a good fit. We're about so much more. We're about doing good, we're about doing well.' Nearly 60% of the experts surveyed cited three major challenges in the growing sector - people do not know what social entrepreneurs do, which makes raising funds difficult and selling to governments is an uphill struggle. Anne Katrine Heje Larsen, founder and CEO of KPH (Denmark), says, 'There are still too many people who view social entrepreneurs as a bunch of hash-fuming utopian people in knitted sweaters. They couldn't be more wrong.' According to Ayşe Sabuncu, co-founder of Impact Hub Istanbulin (Turkey), 'People do not understand social entrepreneurs create money making businesses like any other business, and they question the philosophy of it if the entrepreneur ends up making profit.' Andy Carnahan, a Swedish social entrepreneur, says, 'A greater understanding of how for-profit businesses can be a driving force for social good would help. We need this (awareness)...among the public who don't realize how much good can be done by a for-profit business that has a social good built into its business model.' Poll found that India, Philippines and South Korea are among those where social entrepreneurs were finding it easiest to access investment. According to Prashanth Venkataramana of Essmart Global, 'A lot of people see India as an opportunity overseas, especially in America.' Bank of America's 2016 survey found that 85% of millennials were interested in having a social impact through investment. It also found that women were more interested in impact investing than men. Peetachai 'Neil' Dejkraisak of Siam Organic (Thailand) says, 'World-class social enterprises are run by women in Asia. They do a really good job balancing the social and financial objectives.' Rosemary Addis, chair of Impact Investing Australia, says, 'Individual enterprises are finding a niche and finding they can engage the market and sell their products or services. But as a sector, the concept of social enterprise and purpose-driven business has not yet got mainstream awareness. That's a job ahead to educate the public.' Read on...

Huffington Post: U.S. Is Best Country For Social Entrepreneurs - Poll
Authors: Pietro Lombardi, Ellen Wulfhorst, Pauline Askin, Nita Bhalla, Alisa Tang, Belinda Goldsmith

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 28 sep 2016

According to the conditions set forth in the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Law in India, all companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or revenue of Rs 1000 cr or net profit of Rs 5 cr should spend 2% of last 3 years average profit on charity work. CSR management firm, NextGen, studied the annual reports of the top 100 firms by market capitalizations on NSE (National Stock Exchange) for 2014-15 & 91 firms for 2015-16. The total spend on CSR activities for 91 firms is Rs 6033 cr for FY16, while it was Rs 4760 cr by 100 companies in FY15. According to Abhishek Humbad, co-founder of NextGen, 'More and more companies are realizing that not meeting 2% makes them look bad, and for large companies, it can turn out be a reputational risk.' The energy sector accounted for nearly 26% of the total CSR spending. Reliance was the largest spender in FY16, using 2.3% of its profit (Rs 652 cr) on education, health and other social activities. Jagannatha Kumar at chairman's office of RIL says, 'The amount spent on each of the focus areas varies on an annual basis depending on the scope of work for the year.' In FY16 RIL spend on healthcare halved to Rs 314 cr while on education it increased to Rs 215 cr from Rs 18 cr in FY15. According to Parul Soni of Thinkthrough Consulting, a CSR consultancy, 'Manufacturing companies like automotive have been well poised to do CSR because they focus on communities around their plants and it helps build engagement with local communities. Also, many of them are working in skill development.' Some of the top causes that corporates spend on are healthcare, poverty eradication, education, skill development, rural development, and environment. Noshir Dadrawala, CEO of Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, says, 'Skills have been trendy. These causes have seen an increase because many of the skilling initiatives instead of being classified as an education initiative is being put under providing employment and reducing poverty. Also when it comes to healthcare, conducting blood donation camps is a popular way of doing CSR as it is easy and effective.' Ravi Chellam, ED of Greenpeace, points out that environment is not a priority issue for most Indian corporates. He says, 'On environmental issues, companies seem to prefer to focus on either their own campuses or areas immediately surrounding their locations.' According to Loveleen Kacker, CEO of Tech Mahindra Foundation, '50% of all our CSR capital goes into empowering women and another 10% for the disabled. We believe that any development can happen in any of the areas - from nutrition to sanitation, only when women are empowered. And we feel only economic empowerment of women can bring about social empowerment.' The top geographical regions that were beneficiary of CSR funds for FY16 are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Vinod Kulkarni, head of CSR at Tata Motors Ltd, says, 'It is part of our policy to invest CSR funds in geographies in close proximity to our area of operation. It amplifies the outcomes and impact.' Arun Nagpal, co-founder of Mrida Group, comments, 'The reasons for firms to select geographies close to manufacturing plants or areas of work are valid but this leads to an imbalance in the division of CSR funding.' Read on...

Livemint: Firms ramp up CSR focus on healthcare, poverty, hunger
Authors: Arundhati Ramanathan, Moyna Manku

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 15 jul 2016

Local communities require participation from its members for their better development. Individuals have to be proactive and should make valuable contribution, and work as a team to make a difference. Pawel Alva Nazaruk, social entrepreneur and owner of Better World International, suggest 7 ways to support communities and change neighbourhood - (1) Support Children - They Are Our Future: Support a child or team for a community activity. (2) Build A House - Sweat And Get Dirty: Find opportunities to help build homes for the disadvantaged. (3) Shop In Your Community - Keep Your Money In Your Local Area: According to American Independent Business Association, 48% of each purchase made in your local independent businesses stays in your community. Also helps create more local jobs. (4) Clean Up Your Neighborhood: Start from the area around your home and then organize a community cleaning event. (5) Take Part In Your Local Political Process: Vote for local representatives. Organize around issues of community development and support the best candidate. (6) Support Community Events: Support activities like farmers market and community gardens. Engage in events that create fun and build a healthy environment in community. (7) Be Friendly: Develop better relations with neighbors and other members of the community. Introduce yourself to the new member who joins the community. Be helpful, caring and supportive to members who are in need. Read on...

Huffington Post: 7 Ways To Support Your Community
Authors: Pawel Alva Nazaruk, Ray V. Bennett Jr.

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 08 may 2016

UK-India Social Enterprise Education Network (UKISEEN), a collaborative project between IIT Madras (India) and University of Southampton (UK), funded by British Council, was recently launched in India. Prof. Pathik Pathak, Director of Social Enterprise and founding director of Social Impact Lab at University of Southampton, explains his views on social entrepreneurship education and employment, aims and objectives of UKISEEN and how India is embracing social entrepreneurship. ON SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: 'Fundamentally, it's about using entrepreneurship and innovation to drive social change. Social entrepreneurship is important because it gives students a unique skill-set...We think that social entrepreneurship is a catalyst for producing the graduates that the world needs. This is why so many universities in India have embraced social entrepreneurship.' ON UKISEEN: 'It involves universities collaborating to understand the best practices in social entrepreneurship education and exchanging ideas. There are two levels to the collaboration - at the faculty level and student level.' ON ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES: 'Employability is all about leadership now...universities' role includes more than merely educating students. Social entrepreneurship helps students inculcate innovation and creative skills. Fundamentally, it is about problem-solving, which is what leadership is all about as well. Besides, regardless of the profession you enter, you need to be entrepreneurial.' ON EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES: 'One can go and work in the social investment space...Another indirect way is that it gives them the skills to go into the workforce and become leaders.' Read on...

The Hindu: Leadership through entrepreneurship
Author: Sarthak Saraswat

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 12 mar 2016

Gender equity and women empowerment are issues that are often discussed at various forums. Women are trying and working hard to make their mark in different fields and professions. Philanthropy and nonprofits are getting women in leadership roles. 'Inside Philanthropy' has created a separate section on their website where it exclusively covers developments related to women and girls. Recently the website listed influential women in U.S. that are making an impact by participating in various different capacities in the field of philanthropy, charity and nonprofit sector. The categorised list currently includes the following women - MEGA-DONORS: (1) Karen Ackman, Co-founder, Pershing Square Foundation; (2) Jody Allen, Co-founder, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; (3) Laura Arnold, Co-chair, Laura and John Arnold Foundation; (4) Connie Ballmer, Chair of Philanthropy, Ballmer Group; (5) Jennifer Buffett, Co-president, NoVo Foundation; (6) Susan Buffett, Chair, Sherwood Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and Buffett Early Childhood Fund; (7) Priscilla Chan, Co-founder, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; (8) Alexandra Cohen, Co-founder, Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation; (9) Barbara Dalio, Co-founder, Dalio Foundation; (10) Susan Dell, Co-founder and Board Chair, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation; (11) Melinda Gates, Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; (12) Lyda Hill, Founder, Lyda Hill Foundation; Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective; (13) Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective; (14) Pam Omidyar, Co-founder, Omidyar Group; (15) Barbara Picower, President and Chair, JPB Foundation; (16) Lynn Schusterman, Chair, Schusterman Family Foundation; (17) Marilyn Simons, President, Simons Foundation; (18) Cari Tuna, Co-founder and President, Good Ventures; (19) Diane von Furstenberg, Director, Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation; (20) Alice Walton, Walton Family Foundation and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; (21) Shelby White, Founder and Trustee, Leon Levy Foundation. FOUNDATION LEADERS: (22) Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; (23) Patricia Harris, CEO, Bloomberg Philanthropies; (24) Carol Larson, President and CEO, Packard Foundation; (25) Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; (26) Clara Miller, Director and President, F.B. Heron Foundation; (27) LaJune Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO, W. K. Kellogg Foundation; (28) Sally Osberg, President and CEO, Skoll Foundation; (29) Judith Rodin, President, Rockefeller Foundation; (30) Julia Stasch, President, MacArthur Foundation; CORPORATE FUNDERS: (31) Suzanne DiBianca, President, Salesforce Foundation; (32) Deb Elam, President, GE Foundation; (33) Sally McCrady, President, PNC Foundation; (34) Kathleen McLaughlin, President, Walmart Foundation; (35) Kerry Sullivan, President, Bank of America Charitable Foundation; (36) Michele Sullivan, President, Caterpillar Foundation; THE CATALYSTS: (37) Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Founder and President, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation; (38) Melissa Berman, President and CEO, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; (39) Jean Case, CEO, Case Foundation; (40) Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary of State and Candidate for U.S. President; (41) Amy Danforth, President, Fidelity Charitable; (42) Kriss Deiglmeier, CEO, Tides; (43) Kim Dennis, President and CEO, Searle Freedom Trust; (44) Jane Greenfield, President, Vanguard Charitable; (45) Donna P. Hall, President and CEO, Women Donors Network; (46) Ruth Ann Harnisch, Founder, Harnisch Foundation; (47) Vanessa Kirsch, Founder and CEO, New Profit; (48) Kim Laughton, President, Schwab Charitable; (49) Michele Lord, President, NEO Philanthropy; (50) Teresa Younger, President and CEO, Ms. Foundation; (51) Jacki Zehner, President and Chief Engagement Officer, Women Moving Millions. Read on...

Inside Philanthropy: Meet the 50 Most Powerful Women in U.S. Philanthropy
Authors: David Callahan, Kiersten Marek

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Mohammad Anas Wahaj | 07 mar 2016

In most organizations, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is not a clearly defined strategic activity at the senior executive and top internal stakeholder level, even though a number of them have CSR and sustainability departments. According to a research study by London-based economic and strategy consulting firm, Economic Policy Group (EPG), 71% of companies in the U.S define their CSR spending as in-kind donations and free product giveaways. Another 16% define it as cash donations, and the remaining 13% as employee volunteering and giving. Large organizations often consider investments in social programs as not providing direct returns. One of the most difficult challenge for sustainability teams is to sell embedded CSR and sustainability programs internally to the top executives and senior managers and advocating that isolated initiatives like philanthropy and volunteering are not enough for corporations to be socially responsible. Organizations have to effectively integrate CSR and sustainability into the overall strategy to drive long-term growth and success. Sustainable thinking should be imbibed into corporate culture and strategic thought processes. Jeff Sutton, Vice President of thinkPARALLAX, provides 7 benefits of integrating sustainability into overall business strategy - (1) Increase in sales. (2) Innovate and differentiate. (3) Enhance and build reputation. (4) Future-proofing. (5) Recruit and retain. (6) Cut costs. (7) Unify teams and align decision making. Read on...

Triple Pundit: Securing Buy-in From the Top - 7 Benefits of Integrated Thinking
Author: Jeff Sutton

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