With Social Value now becoming monetised, both in Government, Local Government and now in the business supply chains, what can we learn?
The larger Enterprise businesses already report on their Social Value activities, both Environmental and Community focus, and provide written and published statements
Like GDPR before it, Social Value will cascade down the supply chain, to reach every business of every size within the next year.
There may or may not be a statute law to report by then, but there will be irresistible commercial pressure to conform and report
For now, the imperative for business directors should be the following
Bring this to the regular board meeting agenda, it is a critical risk to your business and should have a director assigned to the task
Engage with your teams internally, to ensure a joined up and fully understood strategy is devised
Translate this strategy into operational action. You do this for Health and Safety and GDPR already – now do it for Social Value
Review and revise your policies to safeguard your business and your employees
Understand your activity, and make a plan for the periods ahead
Audit your measurement systems. Spreadsheets are no longer acceptable, as the data you confirm needs to be to an auditable standard
Check for fraud, the same way you do for the finance function
Engage a Social Value accreditation, as a starting point for your next steps
Utilise external reporting platforms that allow transactional audit. Investorsincommunity.org provides this for all Community work, and emerging platforms allow Environmental audit recording
Avoid any system where a judgement-based self-input is required by a staff member, as this is where the control and audit falls over, leaving the directors exposed. There are lots of “portals” for example that ask you to input your own data but does not verify any of it.
Avoid fancy reports, and be authentic in your statements, backed by auditable facts
The Social Value journey is just starting. From new-born to adulthood in just a few years, with commercial pressures exacerbated by Covid, fractured global supply chains, and the war in Ukraine
We are in a changing world, but anyone who understands bell-curves will tell you – delay too long and your will miss the profit curve, enjoyed by those who act now
At the end of the day, Social Value is a euphemism for personal values, irrespective of the legal or commercial positions. It touches everyone on this planet who cares, from our employees, our customers, our investors, our secondary stakeholders. Personal values make the world go around, and this just became centre stage.
If you need support to devise an actionable plan, install Social Value as a profit driver, find and deploy proper auditable measurement systems, and want to engage your team, I’m here to help. Contact me direct on philip.webb@citercom.uk
Social Value was first described as CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and then ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and were a “nice to have”
It provided companies with the framework to describe their actions that supported others, driven by good will, philanthropy, and a desire to expand both leader’s egos and marketing footprints
Then came the Social Value Act amendments of January 2021, that enshrined a minimum of 10% of the awarding marks in a public sector tender, to the stated Social Value that a business returns to its community
There was recognition that a company who supported the planet and community, was in some way a “good business” to work for, buy and sell from, and maybe invest in
Then the baby grew a bit, and gained teeth
Local government led the way in the spring of 2021, expanding the 10% requirement of the Social Value Act, to a level of 25% and 30% of the awarding marks in a tender submission
So, if you want to win work from local government, you need your good news stories laid out to showcase your social value. The huge push by the environmental lobbies provided a backdrop to look at carbon footprint, and all its vague emerging measures.
However, the general thrust of Social Value from a business although not fully defined, is a good one. Nobody can argue that protecting the planet, the people, resources, and communities is a bad thing.
So, the term Social Value (generic umbrella for CSR and ESG) has grown up to become an adolescent.
Legal teeth have become evident, to start to combat the problem of “greenwashing” This term describes the situation if a firm can derive the benefits of ESG without implementing the changes required, they will do so, if it’s easier than meeting the standards. In other words, the outcome or impact is extrapolated, glossed up a bit, made to be more than reality.
The reason businesses can and do this is simple, there are no defined and measured standards in place, that bind them to the truth, or the accurate impact outcomes.
All of that is about to change.
As Social Value reaches metaphorical adulthood, a few changes are afoot.
The question of measurement is still to be fully solved, and is being addressed as this blog is written, by a myriad of “accreditation” agencies. These organisations use best efforts to define standards, derived from academic feedback, hypothesis, and some anecdotal evidence of causal outcomes in a small number of companies who presently engage. They undertake audits, test business claims, guide companies towards a more structured approach, making Social Value a business driver, no longer a “nice to have”, but a “must have”
The Accreditation Marks have a valuable place in the market, as they all add a layer of credibility, above the basement position of alleged greenwashing.
In Community terms, there should be a new term, perhaps called “Community Washing” The lack of verification of claims to have supported community organisations, charities, and schools, makes this the next ground to be tested.
If you need support to devise an actionable plan, install Social Value as a profit driver, find and deploy proper auditable measurement systems, and want to engage your team, I’m here to help. Contact me direct on philip.webb@citercom.uk
Political leaders are currently pushing the message of “Levelling Up” our economy. For too long, they say, the divide between the South of England, and the rest of the UK has deteriorated and widened.
Quite right too, that the distribution of infrastructure and government spending needs to be allotted fairly across the regions and the population
However, I cannot help but feel sceptical.
Nothing to do with politics, or the government in power, this is to do with the strategy of focusing on the economy.
All well and good to build some new roads and rail connections, improve bus routes, high-speed broadband, and relocate some government departments out of London to the chilly north.
But what I am concerned about is the people themselves, and the society in which we live.
Governments of any political persuasion cannot reach the person in the street, as their influence and effect is designed to engage down to the regional levels, and is then taken up by other organisations, such as Councils, support groups, charities and communities themselves
If I am an elderly person, living alone, and declare – “I feel so lonely, what is the government going to do about it” then the answer is nothing. At a community level, however, there are many support options, headed by council services, social and care organisations, and charities.
During the pandemic, we were able to literally see into the living rooms and personal lives of our teams, our customers, and our suppliers. It formed a new understanding, based on being human, and not simply a contract.
This phenomenon continues, post covid, as video conferencing is now the norm. The lack of enthusiasm for a full return to the office, and the demands for flexible working arrangements add to the mix and we see the community in which we live, with greater clarity than ever before
In the latest Levelling Up paper, published in early February, there is recognition that the charity sector must be involved in the agenda to deliver.
But more than that, at a local level, there needs to be a new partnership, one between the people, the businesses, and the charities. Through this tri-party approach, significant and specific local change can be brought to bear, upon the communities that need help, with those who can provide help.
In the New World that is now emerging from the global ravages of the pandemic, the social norms reset, and the need to connect with others, this is the perfect time to examine an approach that will deliver a sustainable partnership between the stakeholders in our society.
Social Value was born as a term in 2020/21 and espouses the many things that a business and a person does, to project themselves beyond simple monetary gain.
Profit and Purpose have now become a journey for businesses of all sizes, to remain relevant to consumers, staff, investors, and supply chains. This is no longer a “nice to have”, it has become a “must-have”. Where profit and purpose co-exist, a wonderful new term is applied, to describe the business as a “Zebra” business. The black and white stripes denote the profit/purpose approach and create a sustainable and more robust business.
But what of measurement?
With commercial identity being applied to Social Value, supply chains, tenders, and proposals, now all require commentary about the applicant social value, which leads to contract awards and financial gain.
So the auditable measurement of social value is critical if the three-way partnerships are to have any validity, above that of being a nice story.
At Investors In Community a platform exists to bring the stakeholders together, in a verified measurement system, with a live marketplace of needs, and transparency with both givers and receivers.
It is essential to embrace the concept of community outreach, in order to participate in the product and services markets of 2022 onwards, but more than that;
It is critical that everyone understands that levelling up, not just of the economy, but more so of Society will drive fairness and participation, to provide a place where humankind can be human
To avoid significant social unrest in the years ahead, a new contract with the people is needed, one that recognises that joining up the silos of society is the only way to create a harmonious existence, and providing the whole population with an opportunity to help with the real levelling up that our society needs.
In this newsletter we’re sharing a few different ideas for giving back to your community over Christmas, revealing the true meaning behind Boxing Day, encouraging people to get fun projects and fundraisers on the platform, and of course we share some fantastic charities looking for your support this month!
How To Give Back To Your Community This Christmas.
1. Give to food banks.
We all overstock the fridge at Christmas, but what if rather than eating more than we can manage, we gave to those in need? Find a local food bank and offer to volunteer or donate your excess food, you can’t imagine how many people you would help.
Foodbanks provide food and household items to hundreds of local families in their time of hardship. Your local foodbanks support needy families all year round and they need your generous donations so they can purchase the items that are needed.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for food banks due to rising costs in heating and lighting. They need your support now more than ever and every donation, big or small will help them provide their local community with these incredible resources.
2. Donate warm clothes.
This is an incredibly thoughtful and kind act as over the Christmas period the weather can be a challenge. The severe cold means that most spend their nights shivering, a simple hat and scarf can make all the difference!
It’s also great for the planet, donating your clothes instead of throwing them into the rubbish can help fight landfill and reduces the need for fast fashion.
If all of this hasn’t convinced you, it’s also a fantastic way to clean out and organise your wardrobe and you never know, you may find some hidden gems during your clean out.
There are many charities on the IIC platform who would love nothing more than your generous donation this year.
3. Donate Christmas gifts to children in need.
There are so many children in need of a special gift this Christmas, but did you know you can donate Christmas gifts to children via charity?
There are a couple of charities on the Investors In Community platform asking for gift donations this year and this is a great way to add a personal touch when donating. You can go out and select the perfect toy and donate to the charity of your choice, they can even share an impact statement once the project has closed so you know all the good your donation did!
Scratch Charity says: “Christmas should be an exciting time for children, although sometimes – through no fault of their own or their families – there’s a risk they won’t wake up to a sackful of presents. That’s where SCRATCH steps in with our Christmas Complete project, which in December 2020 provided 2393 children and young people with a package of seven or eight presents each (an increase of 15% from the previous year. The need will be no less this year with many local families having been impacted by COVID-19 and we want to be able to help all families referred to us.”
Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity is hosting their Christmas Fair on the 4th of December. As part of this fair, they’re inviting the children that Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity support to come and meet Santa and they would like to be able to provide these children with presents from Santa in the Grotto. If you’re heading out shopping for your family anyway, why not pick up a toy to donate, even one toy can make a huge difference to a child’s Christmas!
4. Charity Advent calendar.
We’ve all had an advent calendar, right? Well, what if rather than receiving something for everyday of advent, you were to give something instead? Pick 24 charities to receive a donation from you each day throughout December and donate to each of them.
We have plenty of charities to choose from on the Investors In Community platform so you’ll never be short of options. You could make it fun whereby every Monday you donate to an animal charity and every Wednesday you donate to a children’s charity, or get the whole family involved and have each person choose their own charity for each day!
It doesn’t have to be a huge donation every day, donate whatever amount works for you and remember that even by donating a small amount, you can make a huge difference.
Do You Know The True Meaning of Boxing Day?
Investors In Community are encouraging people to revive the traditional meaning behind Boxing Day and donate time or money to good causes this Christmas.
Although some sources link the origins of Boxing Day to the sport of boxing or putting used wrapping paper or unwanted presents into boxes, it turns out that its true meaning is found in small acts of kindness to the most vulnerable in society.
Some argue that 26 December was when aristocrats and lords of the manor distributed “Christmas boxes” filled with small gifts, money and leftovers from Christmas dinner to household servants and employees in recognition of good service throughout the year.
Another theory suggests that Boxing Day arose from alms boxes that were placed in churches during the Advent period for the collection of donations from parishioners. Members of the clergy then distributed the contents of the boxes to the poor on 26 December, which is also the feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and a figure known for acts of charity.
Why You Need To Get Your Projects On The Investors In Community Platform Over Christmas.
Christmas really is the most wonderful time of year for some, but for some people Christmas is cold, lonely and a time of great struggle. Investors In Community wants to encourage people to get back into the True Spirit of Christmas and give back to those in need this year!
During the Christmas period most charities see a huge peak in donations, this is partly thought to be because people are seeking to find the true meaning behind this time of year and embrace the traditional aspect of it all. Another reason could be the winter effect, with temperatures dropping and households struggling to afford their monthly running costs, around 25% of people donate to homeless people and charities in December alone. Another interesting statistic: in 2019, research showed that almost 1 in 3 people considered donating to a charity for Christmas instead of giving a gift.
So, get your Christmas fundraising initiatives on the IIC platform and start receiving donations today!
We thought we would share some amazing charities with you as well!
FareShare
FareShare is the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors, made up of 18 independent organisations. Together, we take good quality surplus food from right across the food industry and get it to more than 10,500 frontline charities and community groups. Support them here.
Forget-Me-Not Animal Rescue
Forget-Me-Not Animal Rescue are dedicated to making a difference to the lives of the animals we rescue, in addition to this, we educate and influence people through our compassionate and ethical message. Support them here.
We Can
We provide community based support for children and young people with disabilities, additional and complex needs, aged between 6 and 19 to access leisure and social activities. Support them here.
Kids Against Plastic
Amy and Ella set up Kids Against Plastic (KAP) back in 2016, after studying the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and discovering the issue of plastic pollution. Their mission to make a difference started out as a home-school project and has since become an award-winning charity. Support them here.
Join Investors In Community today to deliver your social impact and align with your purpose.
In this newsletter we’re sharing stories about; the generosity of the city of Sheffield, all about our Responsible Virtual Christmas Parties, 100 Fundraising ideas for every fundraiser, James Timpsons excellent Times article, success stories from Wakefield, and of course we share some fantastic charities looking for your support this month!
Donations in Sheffield on the Investors In Community platform hits 22k! Are the people of Sheffield becoming the most generous?
Sheffield is often named as Britain’s friendliest city, but did you know ‘Sheffielders’ are also generous?
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity sector has been hit hard these past few years, with so many seeing donations and funding disappear almost overnight as lockdown was enforced and events were cancelled. At the same time, however, charities have also come under increased pressure for their services due to more people turning up seeking their support.
Investors In Community have, however, seen great generosity amongst those in Sheffield region on the platform, with recent donations taking the total to £22,000 shared across the charities and community projects.
Here are the categories of charities Sheffield has supported:
Not only were these direct donations to charities, but some also involved extreme challenges such as a 100km Challenge, an 80ft Abseil and a 360-mile running challenge. Showing that those in Sheffield are not only generous but courageous too.
Philip Webb, Managing Director of Investors in Community, comments:
“These past few years have brought a huge number of challenges for people across the world with so many events cancelled, and fundraising opportunities limited, so we are delighted to see such an incredible amount raised for charities in the Sheffield region. We hope to continue to see this number grow and be matched across all cities in the UK.”
We are so grateful to everyone who’s generously supported charities via the Investors In Community Platform, but there’s still more that can be done. To donate to a good cause today, visit www.investorsincommunity.org
James Timpson: “Companies Should Put Charitable Works on The Front of Their Accounts”
James Timpson’s recent article in the Times shows how businesses can and should incorporate charitable giving into their company structure.
In this article, James discusses how important it is to start the right way when exploring Social Impact. At Timpson’s in particular, they began supporting foster families, as this had a personal connection for James whose parents were foster carers themselves. They later moved on to recruiting prisoners, giving them a second chance, and found that in doing this, they solved their recruitment problems at Timpson’s. When involving their colleagues in these initiatives, they found that they engaged most when encouraged to support their local community, so the impact was right in front of them.
Another interesting point brought up was how businesses benefit from these changes in more ways than you’d expect, James states that: “motivating colleagues to use their skills outside the business helps to broaden their experience and improve morale.” Investors In Community has seen the same outcome for early adopters of the IIC platform, when staff were engaged in projects and good causes, they felt passionately about, they felt more engaged and appreciated at work.
It’s clear that Timpson’s knows that Social Impact is no longer a “nice to have” it is an essential part of good business, and more people are calling for businesses to be more transparent about their giving. No longer do we hide this on page 163, this is a page one priority.
Firewalk – Kicking off with a crazy challenge that is not for the faint of heart: walking across a path of fire for charity, this one is sure to get people interested in your fundraising initiative.
Raffle – Ask for donations of items in your community if you’re a charity or as a business, make the prize an extra days holiday or a dinner for two voucher, people will definitely be interested in giving it a go!
Hike – Don those hiking boots and get walking! Find interesting local walks and commit to hiking 30 miles in one month, ask friends and family to sponsor you, and if you’d like to make it even more interesting, try finding some tricky trails to send photos and videos to your sponsors of you tackling a tough trek!
Dog Show – Get all the dog owners in the area to bring out their pooches for a fun day of showing off their tricks and who can make the cutest puppy face. Raise funds by asking the community to pay a small fee to attend.
Abseil – Everyone loves to see people taking on insane challenges, you could abseil 80 feet off of the Monsal Trail bridge in the Peak District, trust me, a lot of people would pay to see it!
Community Colour Wall – Grab your colleagues, your neighbours and friends and decide a wall to paint in the community, each person pays £2 to add their mark and by the end of the fundraiser you have a one of a kind art piece in your community and some pretty great funds raised for your chosen charity!
Dress Down Day – Do you have a mandatory uniform at your work? Ever considered having a casual day? Well why not do some fundraising in the process! Ask employees to donate £1 to come to work in comfy, casual clothes and donate all the proceeds to charity.
Head Shave – This is one for the bold people out there. Trust me, you will definitely get some sponsors out of it!
Game Night – Host a community game night and ask for donations to join in on the fun!
Bake Sale – What better way to raise money for charity than to bake some delicious treats and sell them to colleagues and friends. You could add some fun twists like baking without a recipe or having a theme to make the whole challenge more exciting!
Download our graphic above to read the rest!
Wakefield Community Raises £901 For Local Foodbanks!
Wakefield is leading the way and uniting purpose through their campaigns to support their community and for their most recent project they raised £901 for local foodbanks.
In Wakefield district there are 35 food banks, these foodbanks provide food and household items to hundreds of local families in their time of hardship. The foodbanks support needy families all year round, therefore, there is a need for donations, all year round, for them to purchase the items that are needed and your generous donations through the Investors in Community platform enable them to do that.
Have you booked your Christmas party yet?
It’s a tricky call to make this year and we’ve got the perfect solution to keep your team safe, connected and make sure they have a night to remember!
Bring together your team this Christmas with our specially created Virtual Christmas Parties, whilst raising money for charity!
Why should I have a virtual Christmas party?
Keep everyone safe, leave no one out
Invite 100s of guests; colleagues and customers
Save your pocket and the planet with the greener way to party
Avoid disruption with potential restrictions
Support good causes and help others as a team
Choose from three fantastic packages including professional entertainers, mixologists, wine experts, comedians and dancers who will have your guests making memories they’ll talk about all through 2022.
Best of all, you’ll be giving back!
We will support you as you choose your cause and set up your fundraising project in advance of the event, with marketing support to extend the reach of your project to maximise your fundraising efforts and then we will report back on the real impact you’ve made to your local community.
For each guest that attends your event £10 donation will automatically be donated to your chosen charity or good cause.
Furthermore, the first £100 raised outside of the £10 donations per event attendee will be match funded by Investors in Community.
We thought we would share some amazing charities with you as well!
Save The Children
Save the Children, was established to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic opportunities, as well as providing emergency aid in natural disasters, war, and other conflicts. Support them here.
In Kind Direct
We believe everyone deserves access to life’s essentials and that no usable product should go to waste. In Kind Direct is the UK charity distributing consumer goods donated by companies to UK charitable organisations working in the UK and overseas. Support them here.
The Charity Shop Gift Card
The Charity Shop Gift Card works to bring sustainable fashion and social value to the high street. But our commitment to doing good doesn’t stop there. Support them here
Teenage Cancer Trust
Every day, seven young people aged 13-24 hear the words “you have cancer”. They will each need specialised nursing care and support to get them through it. We’re the only UK charity dedicated to meeting this vital need – so no young person faces cancer alone. Support them here.
Bodie Hodges Foundation
Our Vision is to give hope to families bereaved of a child by providing a range of services that support grieving families and encourage them to rebuild and remember. Support them here.
Join Investors In Community today to deliver your social impact and align with your purpose.
Christmas really is the most wonderful time of year for some, but for some people Christmas is cold, lonely and a time of great struggle. In light of this, Investors In Community decided to take action and encourage people to get back into the True Spirit of Christmas and give back to those in need.
In this blog we discuss five things you can do this Christmas to support your community:
Host your own Christmas Party fundraiser.
We at Investors In Community have teamed up with YES Entertainment to create the perfect ‘Christmas party with a twist’.
Simply choose from a range of entertainment options from; live cocktail making, wine tasting, magicians and even dancing – the choice is yours.
The gift that keeps on giving:
Then choose a charity or good cause you wish to support this Christmas. The team at Investors In Community will help you build a fundraising campaign around your local community and, as it’s the season for giving, Investors In Community will automatically donate £10 to your chosen charity for each guest that attends your party! In addition they will match fund the first £100 raised! Yes, that’s right, it’s the gift that keeps on giving!
The benefits are endless:
With lots of customisable options to choose from, including ‘virtual parties’ which are not only cost effective and more environmentally friendly, but this winter will help you avoid those dreaded potential disruptions of social restrictions or guests having to cancel due to having to self-isolate.
With this option you can expand your guest list! Why not invite your key customers, supply chains or partners to join in the fun.
Be a responsible business and improve your Social Impact:
Be a responsible business this Christmas, keep your guests safe and give your employees and guests a night to remember whilst also giving back to your community. This all helps you as a company demonstrate your community spirit and Social Impact efforts. As we say “giving is the new marketing” so you will indeed get a return on investment from your Christmas party festivities!
This is an incredibly thoughtful and kind act as over the Christmas period the weather can be a challenge. The severe cold means that most spend their nights shivering and simple hat and scarf can make all the difference!
It’s also great for the planet, donating your clothes instead of throwing them into the rubbish can help fight landfill and reduces the need for fast fashion.
If all of this hasn’t convinced you, it’s also a fantastic way to clean out and organise your wardrobe and you never know, you may find some hidden gems during your clean out.
There are many charities on the IIC platform who would love nothing more than your generous donation this year.
Give to food banks.
We all overstock the fridge at Christmas, but what if rather than eating more than we can manage, we gave to those in need? Find a local food bank and offer to volunteer or donate your excess food, you can’t imagine how many people you would help.
Foodbanks provide food and household items to hundreds of local families in their time of hardship. Your local foodbanks support needy families all year round and they need your generous donations so they can purchase the items that are needed.
Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year for food banks due to rising costs in heating and lighting. They need your support now more than ever and every donation, big or small will help them provide their local community with these incredible resources.
Donate Christmas gifts to children in need.
There are so many children in need of a special gift this Christmas, but did you know you can donate Christmas gifts to children via charity?
There are a couple of charities on the Investors In Community platform asking for gift donations this year and this is a great way to add a personal touch when donating. You can go out and select the perfect toy and donate to the charity of your choice, they can even share an impact statement once the project has closed so you know all the good your donation did!
Scratch Charity says: “Christmas should be an exciting time for children, although sometimes – through no fault of their own or their families – there’s a risk they won’t wake up to a sackful of presents. That’s where SCRATCH steps in with our Christmas Complete project, which in December 2020 provided 2393 children and young people with a package of seven or eight presents each (an increase of 15% from the previous year. The need will be no less this year with many local families having been impacted by COVID-19 and we want to be able to help all families referred to us.”
Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity is hosting their Christmas Fair on the 4th of December. As part of this fair, they’re inviting the children that Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity support to come and meet Santa and they would like to be able to provide these children with presents from Santa in the Grotto. If you’re heading out shopping for your family anyway, why not pick up a toy to donate, even one toy can make a huge difference to a child’s Christmas!
Charity Advent calendar.
We’ve all had an advent calendar, right? Well, what if rather than receiving something for everyday of advent, you were to give something instead? Pick 24 charities to receive a donation from you each day throughout December and donate to each of them.
We have plenty of charities to choose from on the Investors In Community platform so you’ll never be short of options. You could make it fun whereby every Monday you donate to an animal charity and every Wednesday you donate to a children’s charity, or get the whole family involved and have each person choose their own charity for each day!
It doesn’t have to be a huge donation every day, donate whatever amount works for you and remember that even by donating a small amount, you can make a huge difference.
We hope you take these ideas and incorporate at least one of them into your festive plans!
Sheffield is often named as Britain’s friendliest city, but did you know ‘Sheffielders’ are also generous?
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity sector has been hit hard these past few years, with so many seeing donations and funding disappear almost overnight as lockdown was enforced and events were cancelled. At the same time, however, charities have also come under increased pressure for their services due to more people turning up seeking their support.
Investors In Community have, however, seen great generosity amongst those in Sheffield region on the platform, with recent donations taking the total to £22,000 shared across the charities and community projects.
Here are the categories of charities Sheffield has supported:
Not only were these direct donations to charities, but some also involved extreme challenges such as a 100km Challenge, an 80ft Abseil and a 360-mile running challenge. Showing that those in Sheffield are not only generous but courageous too.
Philip Webb, Managing Director of Investors in Community, comments:
“These past few years have brought a huge number of challenges for people across the world with so many events cancelled, and fundraising opportunities limited, so we are delighted to see such an incredible amount raised for charities in the Sheffield region. We hope to continue to see this number grow and be matched across all cities in the UK.”
We are so grateful to everyone who’s generously supported charities via the Investors In Community Platform, but there’s still more that can be done. To donate to a good cause today, visit www.investorsincommunity.org
In this newsletter we’re sharing stories about; the importance of food banks in Wakefield and how they provide access to food to families in need. We share about Kendal Torchlight Carnival who would appreciate your support to enable them to keep their Carnival running for the 52nd year! IIC interviews Thrive Law and Jodie Hill to discuss Social Value and how their sector gets involved. And we also hear from one of our fantastic Ambassadors Johnny Pawlik!
An interview with Jodie Hill – Founder and Managing Partner of Thrive Law:
You are taking the lead on measuring, tracking, and recording your social value impact through our platform – what led to this decision and is it ingrained in your company cultures and values?
We have been supporting local community initiatives around us for some time and helping specific charities in the mental health space, but we weren’t monitoring our activity. We had no record of what we were doing and how much time we were spending on our voluntary work across the business at all. As a business we are quite data driven and we wanted to know how many hours we give to our community and recording the ways that we help people was important as well as understanding more about the impact we were having through the work we are doing.
We have always run events and helped support others through our contacts, but we have never had a formal process on what sort of charities we were going to support and why. I wanted everyone to be involved, so during a team day everyone chucked in their charities and initiatives they wanted to be involved with and we took all those names and placed them on a board (anonymously) and then voted on them as a team. We decided on how we are going to help the charities, and would it be as teams or individuals and how often would we be helping. The Investors in Community platform would then come in to play and let us know who had worked on what, where had they done it and what time was given to each charity or community initiative and has now helped formalise the process we were looking for and not just about how much money we can make each project but what impact were we genuinely giving back to our community.
I also like the individual perspective on the platform and how it can transfer from organisations because each person can be doing way more on their own accord but included it as part of that system. I know it’s a personal preference and each employee needs to be encouraged at times to help give back, but they have a choice to work within the team or do something independently which says something about that person and it’s good to see the work they do over and above the work at Thrive.
I don’t think people realise how much they do themselves and if you sit down and recall all the time they do give to charities in terms of time. Many of the team will do a walk or charity run and I’m a champion for LawCare which is a mental health charity for Lawyers and support Leeds MIND with pro bono training and advice to name just a few, and found we don’t think to put down our time for all the charity work we do and now I can already think of 10 different charities I do give my time to and that is adding real value but isn’t recorded anywhere.
Is it fair to say that most law firms don’t really value time given to generating social impact when time is all about chargeable hours?
As a law firm we don’t have a billable hours target. What we do have is behavioural links to an overall target. This drive the important of the right behaviours. Its not just about what money lawyer bill but about the value they add more widely. For example, some of team some may not have billed loads of hours that week or month, but they will have added value somewhere else in the business or completed their charity work. To Thrive Law its more about what a person brings as their whole value as a person rather than being a billing machine. In our 1:1s every month we have our behavioural scores but with the platform we can now monitor their behaviour on an annual basis too and looking back over the year we will now have another layer of data showing what value that individual brings. We offer a free helpline service to different charities and free advice from legal to non-legal and helping the homeless and it would be good to see where we are spending most of our time in these areas. Our culture is more about being a team player rather than as an individual and if you do meet your financial target for the month but not demonstrated any additional contribution then over the year your score will affect your overall results. The conventional way in a law firm would be based on your billable hours and which clients you had brought in. That’s not how we do it and law firms have to think differently in this new age. Thrive Law is a business and yes, we are here to make money, but we are also here to make a difference, to give back and want to add value to the wider society.
Thrive Law is a business with purpose, and we want to attract the right employees and the right clients. For us its more about driving our purpose and values rather than just being a law practice delivering on the letter of the law. At Thrive Law People Matter.
There are other firms out there that do a lot on social impact, but the consensus is that the focus is on billable hours. It’s a personal view but there larger the firm the more the value of the deal takes over from the purpose and it becomes a culture view. Do I want to work with a firm that puts purpose first or is it about making a millionaire more millions first?
‘People can’t put food on the table without help’ – Wakefield district’s food banks are asking you to give them your support.
Food Bank support has declined over the past eight months but the need for their service has increased. That’s according to Community Foundation Wakefield, which has started a new fundraising drive to help the district’s 35 food banks put food on people’s plates.
Lisa Grant, the manager of St Catherine’s Church food bank in Wakefield, said it had been a tough time for people in need. She said: “Demand has definitely increased. We are seeing a lot of families who have been made redundant or on furlough so have seen a dip in income. For most of our clients it is crucial that they get to the food bank because they have no means of buying food after the bills are paid – they are flat broke. We have more families coming to us who are absolutely desperate. Some of the kids just wouldn’t eat without getting help.”
Lisa said people who would often donate have been going into to shops less and people in general are being more careful with money.
She said: “Everyone is worried about different things but food banks are not going away. I would love to see the day they all shut down because there was no need for them but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
Wakefield BID is working with Community Foundation Wakefield and Investors in Community on the project. Business Development Director Dave Clarkson said: “The Investors in Community platform is the most effective way of connecting organisations, individuals, charities, and community groups to show that by working together powerful and evidenced social impact can be created. As food banks have grown it is noted that the shelves have become half empty, food donations have declined over the past eight months. It’s not only food donations and volunteering that is required, but there is also the financial cost of running these services. This is the campaign we wish to highlight, and monetary donations are needed to keep each of these services running right throughout the year.”
The past 18 months of pandemic meant food banks had to face new challenges. The national lockdown over the winter in particular brought little respite for food banks. Volunteers had to learn new ways to distribute food to meet social distancing guidelines while continuing to rely of the public’s kindness to keep their shelves stocked. Food banks reported record numbers of people needing help throughout 2020.
The Trussell Trust, which supports a network of food banks around the county, said 2,600 emergency food parcels were provided for children every day on average by its food banks during the first six months of the pandemic alone. And there were countless example of citizens taking matters into their own hands to help others.
Wakefield teenager Megan Rodd launched her own food bank and supported hundreds of people every week since the start of the first lockdown. Schools held collections for food banks and people stepped up to deliver vital supplies.
Search Investors in Community Wakefield food banks for a page where you can donate.
Kendal Torchlight Carnival Needs Your Help!
“By the people, for the people” – Torchlight History.
Kendal Torchlight Carnival started in 1970 and has almost always been held on the Friday following the Westmorland County Show in September.
Torchlight content has varied over the years from just 30 float entries in the beginning to over 130 floats, bands, carnival and dance troupes and other artists at its peak and has always been a gathering for the people of Kendal and surrounding areas, for our visitors and guests – “A gathering for the town, for the surrounding areas, for everyone – people entertaining people!”
This year we need donations to help the Carnival run better than ever before!
£1,000 pays for festoon lighting (pretty lightbulb strings) to help create a magical atmosphere in the park after dark.
£800 pays for a band (5 musicians to play on our main stage). This will be our main headline band to play on Saturday afternoon in the market square. There are 5 musicians, keyboard, saxophone, trumpet, bass guitar, guitar. Due to covid they haven’t been able to perform.
£50 will provide materials resources for community groups and schools to make an entry
£100 would light 20 lanterns (£5 a lantern)
A Word From One Of Our Ambassadors, Johnny Pawlik:
“Many of us want to give and do more for our communities, to be a part of the solution, improving the lives of others and making our environments safer, happier, and more resilient. This is only possible when we work together under a common purpose. Investors In Community creates the space for that collaboration to take place, coalescing communities to constructively collaborate for the benefit of all.”
“I’m honoured to be an ambassador for the IIC because, like many others, I believe in leaving the world a little better than how I found it.”
I help ethics first organisations, driven by purpose and positive impact to competently and effectively brand and market themselves. I also help leaders to develop different ways of thinking, to engage with both macro and micro-level perspectives to create solutions for complex challenges.
Oxford-educated with over 21 years of international experience in branding, marketing, and strategy, I’ve had the opportunity to consult with the European Parliament, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, British Members of Parliament, the NHS, the UKTI, and a plethora of others. I’ve been featured on Good Morning Britain, the BBC Political Debates, BBC Radio, Osaka Radio, Asahi Shimbun, and many others.
I’m the Founder and CEO of the international branding and marketing firm, Mantra Media, and the Co-Founder of the Japanese luxury retail brand, Atelier Japan. I like to keep connected and impactful outside of my day-to-day by giving my time to some incredible organisations, causes, and societies. I’m currently an Ambassador for (IIC) Investors in Community, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Commerce, a Guest Chair for the Intelligence Forums, and a member of Deloitte’s Climate Action Coalition.
We thought we would share some amazing charities with you as well!
Barnabus
We empower and equip people experiencing homelessness back into independent living and a home through our street outreach, support centre, healthcare and resettlement tenancy scheme. Support them here
Sheffield Hospitals Charity
Helping local patients feel even better. With your support Sheffield Hospitals Charity can help to ensure patients receive outstanding treatment and care. Support them here.
Airplay Coningsby
Airplay at RAF Coningsby is funded by the RAF Benevolent fund to provide safe, supervised activities for children and young people from RAF Coningsby and the local community. Support them here
Leicester Animal Aid
Leicester Animal Aid is a rescue and rehoming centre for cats and dogs. Every year we care for around 400 animals that are lost, abandoned, unwanted or relinquished because their owners can no longer care for them. We provide care for up to 40 dogs and 30 cats at any one time. Support them here.
Join Investors In Community today to deliver your social impact and align with your purpose.
You are taking the lead on measuring, tracking, and recording your social value impact through our platform – what led to this decision and is it engrained in your company cultures and values?
We have been supporting local community initiatives around us for some time and helping specific charities in the mental health space, but we weren’t monitoring our activity. We had no record of what we were doing and how much time we were spending on our voluntary work across the business at all. As a business we are quite data driven and we wanted to know how many hours we give to our community and recording the ways that we help people was important as well as understanding more about the impact we were having through the work we are doing.
We have always run events and helped support others through our contacts, but we have never had a formal process on what sort of charities we were going to support and why. I wanted everyone to be involved, so during a team day everyone chucked in their charities and initiatives they wanted to be involved with and we took all those names and placed them on a board (anonymously) and then voted on them as a team. We decided on how we are going to help the charities, and would it be as teams or individuals and how often would we be helping. The Investors in Community platform would then come in to play and let us know who had worked on what, where had they done it and what time was given to each charity or community initiative and has now helped formalise the process we were looking for and not just about how much money we can make each project but what impact were we genuinely giving back to our community.
I also like the individual perspective on the platform and how it can transfer from organisations because each person can be doing way more on their own accord but included it as part of that system. I know it’s a personal preference and each employee needs to be encouraged at times to help give back, but they have a choice to work within the team or do something independently which says something about that person and it’s good to see the work they do over and above the work at Thrive.
I don’t think people realise how much they do themselves and if you sit down and recall all the time they do give to charities in terms of time. Many of the team will do a walk or charity run and I’m a champion for LawCare which is a mental health charity for Lawyers and support Leeds MIND with pro bono training and advice to name just a few, and found we don’t think to put down our time for all the charity work we do and now I can already think of 10 different charities I do give my time to and that is adding real value but isn’t recorded anywhere.
Is it fair to say that most law firms don’t really value time given to generating social impact when time is all about chargeable hours?
As a law firm we don’t have a billable hours target. What we do have is behavioural links to an overall target. This drive the important of the right behaviours. Its not just about what money lawyer bill but about the value they add more widely. For example, some of team some may not have billed loads of hours that week or month, but they will have added value somewhere else in the business or completed their charity work. To Thrive Law its more about what a person brings as their whole value as a person rather than being a billing machine. In our 1:1s every month we have our behavioural scores but with the platform we can now monitor their behaviour on an annual basis too and looking back over the year we will now have another layer of data showing what value that individual brings. We offer a free helpline service to different charities and free advice from legal to non-legal and helping the homeless and it would be good to see where we are spending most of our time in these areas. Our culture is more about being a team player rather than as an individual and if you do meet your financial target for the month but not demonstrated any additional contribution then over the year your score will affect your overall results. The conventional way in a law firm would be based on your billable hours and which clients you had brought in. That’s not how we do it and law firms have to think differently in this new age. Thrive Law is a business and yes, we are here to make money, but we are also here to make a difference, to give back and want to add value to the wider society.
Thrive Law is a business with purpose, and we want to attract the right employees and the right clients. For us its more about driving our purpose and values rather than just being a law practice delivering on the letter of the law. At Thrive Law People Matter.
There are other firms out there that do a lot on social impact, but the consensus is that the focus is on billable hours. It’s a personal view but there larger the firm the more the value of the deal takes over from the purpose and it becomes a culture view. Do I want to work with a firm that puts purpose first or is it about making a millionaire more millions first?
The new generation of law graduates are judging legal firms on their culture and demonstration of giving back to their communities – how true is this?
There has been a real sea change in views for those entering a career in law and because of the pandemic there are many re-evaluating the firm they are working for. They have had more time with their families, more time to reflect on things like social impact, carbon footprint, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion and mental health. These areas have become more important than ever been before and people are now coming into the workforce having an expectation that a firm can articulate where it stands on those topics and can support people with the infrastructure to support them with the things they want to do over and above billing hours.
How important is it to a client that their firm is demonstrating their social impact?
From the client’s perspective there are some who value a law firms’ stance on its social values and there are some who don’t put the same level of importance on it, and it comes down to a professional firms view on which client types it wants to engage with. We know that for most tenders you must declare how many hours you spend on CSR and what policy and processes do you have in place to record your social impact. There is a business case for engaging with the type of platform that Investors in Community is because it gives you the data at your fingertips for those tenders and proposals. They should also add the platform on to the list for why someone should join their firm rather than just because they have won an award, or we have these great lawyers.
Overall, Law firms, and I would widen that to businesses in general need to now step up. There is an expectation that they provide not only the infrastructure but the support that individuals need and create the environment that people want to work in. It’s a cliché but the new normal is for companies to revisit their ‘why’ and where they are going and how do they engage their teams.
Business authenticity is all about staying true to your identity, cause, and the people you serve – your customers and workforce!
Nowadays where misinformation is rife and consumer scepticism is constantly on the up, there is no better time to turn the erosion of trust into delivering a new gold standard. Business authenticity is the solution to restore public confidence and offers a competitive edge for companies to engage, interest, and garner huge support from consumers as a result. We’ll shed light on the best ways you can showcase your business authenticity below:
Go deep
For consumers to really understand your business, you need to express what’s really important to you. The values you hold, the passions you share, and the mission you’re journeying towards are all central to business authenticity. By revealing the essence and opening up the core of your business to others, consumers will learn a great deal more about you.
Become a storyteller
It’s important to create a brand narrative that follows the reason you became established in the first place. Consumers want to know the ins and outs of your business journey right from the start and how it got you to the point you find yourself in today. Sharing stories that are real and get into some of the nitty-gritty details is a great way for you to show business authenticity. Hard truths are nothing less than genuine and consumers will gauge this straight away.
Stay human
Whatever size of your company, humanising your culture is crucial for achieving business authenticity. The moment you build up that corporate guard, your stakeholder relationship dynamics will begin to shift and distance. Staff, customers, and everyone in between are all human first. The roles and responsibilities that define each of them come second to this.
There is no better way to connect individuals than communicating on a human level, dropping any unnecessary formalities. Ensure your business is reachable for your employees and consumers to contact you easily. Whether your interaction then emerges over email, telephone, social media, or in-person, take time to listen and understand, be sincere, reveal your vulnerable side, and add personal touches where appropriate. These will all build up a reputation of business authenticity as well as grow trusting relations with your stakeholders.
Keep giving
With a significant proportion of consumers now expecting brands to contribute towards improving quality of life, being charitable is another great way for you to showcase business authenticity.
Companies should champion local causes and actively support their communities regularly to ensure their involvement is committed to making a real difference in the lives of residents. This could include volunteering a certain number of hours every month, making financial donations, or ongoingly contributing valuable resources, materials, and equipment. Giving back locally will not only strengthen the community but also earn trust and respect ideal for aiding your business authenticity.
Be consistent
Everything you have already established above for business authenticity also needs to be conveyed consistently. Mixed messaging and contradiction will soon create mistrust among your customers and undermine the trustworthy, genuine reputation you intended to develop.
Use evidence and be accountable
Always ensure you can support the claims you make and deliver on the promises you commit to.
Consumers are too savvy to see past any slip-ups or embellishments. If a mistake has been made, honesty is the best policy for you to take ownership, apologise, and diffuse the situation. Denying and mitigating will only cause further blows to your reputation publicly and undermine your progress for business authenticity. Everyone has flaws so embrace yours to secure the trust of your audience.
You can also showcase unfiltered testimonials from real people as well as point to any business awards and affiliations that help to command respect for your company. This evidence will round the impressions of your audience and add to your reputation, credibility, and business authenticity. A set of ‘too good to be true’ reviews, an absence of industry recognition, or limited involvement with the community can provoke questions of mistrust and disbelief from consumers.
To conclude, there is a multitude of ways that you can showcase your business authenticity and all are important in the process of nurturing stakeholder relationships. The more value you can give to others, the more support you will receive in return.
The trend for business authenticity is here to stay and companies that welcome it in their culture with open arms will see the upper hand to their competitive position. Businesses will likely see a significant influx of consumers as a result, converting to using their services and products and supporting the overarching mission.
At Investors In Community, we provide an online platform that champions business authenticity and enables companies to give back as part of their cause. By connecting businesses, charities, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, and individuals all in one space, we are able to work together on our shared mission to improve the quality of life for others. Our Community Credits scheme is a fantastic way for companies to showcase the extent of their local impact. For every effort, donation, and volunteer work they give, a sum of credits is received in exchange.
If you’re looking for ways to become more involved with your community, Investors In Community offers the perfect solution. Request a free demo of our digital platform and begin enhancing your business authenticity with us.
