As Published In May 2004

Doing Good, Doing It Right
By Aaron Lazenby

Companies get creative with giving.

From volcanoes in Panama to elephants in Tanzania, the Santa Cruz, California-based Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) is working to protect natural resources around the globe. It does this by helping local conservationists use analytical tools to find smart, efficient solutions to the most-urgent environmental problems. "Most of our funding comes from large foundations. The corporate giving is something we've just started to explore," says CSF Program Director Kim Bonine. "I think our approach resonates with a lot of businesses and corporations. It's a very analytical, very strategic approach."

Oracle employee Alfonso Faustino asked senior management for a grant to help the CSF with a project, which involved working with the Tanzanian government to poll visitors to the country's national park system to determine the impact of tourism on park ecosystems. Faustino received a US$10,000 grant to help the CSF turn the surveys into an actionable study.

Bonine gives a detailed account of how that money was used. "The US$10,000 enabled us to do several things with the data, including data analysis, results generation, creating a presentation to use in government meetings, and creating a report," says Bonine. "In a larger organization, that money might be absorbed and you wouldn't have such a big impact."

Companies that have always measured their business results by the impact on the bottom line are beginning to want the same kind of quantifiable information about their charitable donations. And as donations from the nation's wealthiest corporations show a steady decline, companies are looking for new approaches to corporate giving that are not as hard on the bottom line. "When companies tighten their belts, we see innovation," says Lisa Acree, vice president of Business for Social Responsibility, an organization that helps companies improve their corporate social responsibility objectives. "We're seeing companies try much more interesting approaches and require better measurements of return than in the past."

Smaller companies may be facing the same issues. Looking for areas where they can reduce expenses, small businesses are searching for creative ways to get better mileage from their charitable donations. One way is to channel the passion for giving and volunteerism that exists within the workforce. Give your employees a way to communicate their ideas for grants and donations to ensure that their interests are represented in the company's charitable actions. Create a "giving season" during which employees can submit grant ideas to someone in your organization who has a particular interest in philanthropy. Allow this "giving guru" a month to review proposals from your workers; then choose gifts that will have the greatest impact and represent your company's true values.

Small businesses need to strike a balance between focusing charitable efforts toward causes that are in line with your company's core values and connecting your workforce with the giving process. "You have to let people do what they want to do," says Acree. "But if you go out into the workforce and ask, they want to have broad principles given to them from headquarters."

Organizational support may be all your employees need in order to get great work done in their communities. Through structured volunteer programs—perhaps the human resources department researches volunteer opportunities and matches them with interested employees—or by offering flexible time to those who contribute to charity during work hours, management can send the message that it approves of workers' good deeds. Take it from someone who has been there. "I would not have been able to accomplish any of this without the support of my manager," says Faustino.