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• Community Involvement
  

Strategic approach

Taking a strategic approach to community involvement can deliver benefits to the business while making a positive social impact. The benefits include greater market share and customer loyalty, enhanced employee skills and morale, improved supplier links and a better reputation.

Business in the Community guides companies through a process of implementing a strategic community involvement programme. The community programme is aligned with the business goals so the partnership is mutually beneficial and sustainable.

Community Involvement Programmes

Community involvement is an essential part of good business practice. BITCI is uniquely positioned to advise companies on how to establish successful community involvement programmes, how to get the most from charitable contributions and to establish Employer Supported Volunteering initiatives (ESV) in their local area.

ESV can take many forms from a national programme to a one-off local community event. The comment element is the channeling of much needed skills, time and resources from a business to a community group for positive social benefit. BITCI provides guidance to members on specific aspects such as choosing a community partner, developing an employee engagement initiative or designing a skills enhancement programme.

Services

Our specialist team of advisors provides a range of services to support the development of a community initiative tailored to each individual company. Core aspects of the service include:
• A baseline assessment of your current community activities
• Development of employee volunteering policies
• Development of community investment strategies which support business objectives, are integrated across the business and have real social impact
• Advice on choosing a community partner, developing an employee engagement initiative or designing a skills enhancement programme
• Workshops to support community partners to partner with business
• Community profiling and focus group discussions with community stakeholders to identify key areas of social need that would benefit from business support
• Advice and support on internal management and governance structures
• Measurement and communication of the impact of your initiatives
• Research on social issues of interest to the company e.g. educational disadvantage, health and wellbeing, ageing
• Guidance on corporate responsibility communications, internally and externally, to key stakeholders
• Opportunities for business to participate in working groups to explore topics of common interest
• Opportunities for business to profile their leadership in some aspect of corporate responsibility
• Expertise and latest thinking on CR including leading edge events, master-classes and workshops
• Peer networking and sharing of best practice

Contact

For further information contact:
Louise Murray; Tel: 01 874 7232 or email lmurray@bitc.ie
Linda O'Sullivan; Tel: 01 8747232 or email losullivan@bitc.ie
Elaine Stephen; Tel: 01 8747232 or email estephen@bitc.ie
Ann Howgego; Tel: 01 8747232 or email ahowgego@bitc.ie