August 2009: Making Cents of Corporate Community Involvement

Making Cents of Corporate Community Involvement

Ann Howgego, Corporate Responsibility Executive with Business in the Community Ireland, explains...

Many resource-stricken community and voluntary groups see cash as the only answer and the local company as the obvious place to start looking for it. However, as companies around Ireland embrace the idea of corporate responsibility — involving lasting partnerships with local communities — the community and voluntary sector can benefit from the presence of the local company. More and more groups are re-interpreting their needs in terms of business skills, manpower and volunteering time rather than cash. These benefits are just as valuable as cash and are readily available from companies deploying employee development and community involvement programmes.

Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) - a non-profit that advises Irish companies on responsible business practice - actively encourages companies to partner with community and voluntary groups to address local and social issues. In the last year, companies have invested significantly in transferring professional skills to the voluntary sector.

For example, the KPMG ‘Get Cents' programme is provided in partnership with the North Wall Community Training Centre (CTC). KPMG in Ireland advises business on financial issues while the nearby North Wall CTC provides quality accredited training to early school leavers aged 16-21 years.

Last year, Trevor Moore, CTC Manager approached KPMG to help them develop a short, targeted course covering financial skills such as budgeting, saving, managing loans. The goal was to provide the young people that receive FAS training allowances with the financial skills and experience to effectively manage them. He said: “We are very proud to have formed a partnership with such a prestigious company as KPMG. The ‘Get Cents' course has been of great benefit to us both in terms of learning new financial skills and also in building relationships with KPMG staff.”

12 KPMG volunteers developed the course comprising 3 modules on finance which was delivered by volunteers. Each of the 30 students who participated in the three 3-week courses delivered so far, received a certificate of completion and a €50 Prize Bond to encourage them to save. The next course is planned for September 2009.
Terence O'Rourke, Managing Partner, KPMG, said: “At KPMG, we are delighted with the opportunity to engage our staff in delivering a truly practical course to a community organisation near the IFSC - it allows us to utilise the skill set and experience of our staff to benefit a community group and helps ensure that not only do the students participating in the course gain an insight and knowledge into financial matters but that our own staff have a fantastic opportunity for personal development.”

Finally, Tina Roche, CEO, BITCI commented “I would encourage all community & voluntary groups to identify their needs and to look to business for voluntary professional support. The best outcome for both a business and a community group is when the relationship is based on understanding each others' values and objectives. There is still a tremendous amount of goodwill by companies to engage in community activities”.

Further information on Business in the Community and on Corporate Community Involvement is available on our website http://www.bitc.ie