Monday 2 August 2010

The Corporate Social Partnership

Building on my thoughts from my blog entry on Thursday, 25 March this year, I am in the process of developing an organisation to help solve the problem of CSR for SME’s. 
The Corporate Social Partnership ( CSP ) will be a non-membership partnership organisation, designed to ensure that local business can get the most out of their CSR whilst enhancing their bottom line. Working in collaboration with each other local businesses are able to develop their networks and pick the CSR that best suits their objectives. There will be benefits of shared best practice and the power of buying groups.

A brief outline
Comprising 500 locally based businesses and 50 charities from 6 disciplines the CSP brings companies and charities together ensuring a business to business partnership.
Initially business partners will each donate £500pa which will be distributed amongst the partner charities. Throughout the year there will be other opportunities for business partners to provide practical help to charities as well as funding. These opportunities will be designed to maximise commercial advantage.
Charities eligible to join the partnership will fall into the £50k - £3m turnover bracket. Charities below this threshold will be able to apply to a small support fund for operational costs. There will also be a start-up soft loan scheme.
Charities commit to share their events calendar thereby minimising clashes and finding opportunities for collaborative events.
Charities will also provide details of Trustee opportunities so that the participating businesses can encourage their staff to get involved. This is a great opportunity for both personal development and a practical demonstration of CSR.
The charities are divided in to 6 categories with 8 or 9 charities in each group;
• Children and Education
• Health
• Animal Welfare
• Faith
• Environmental
Each year on charity from each category will receive a donation of £10k as the “Charity of the Year”.

 
The Sums
  • 500 companies x £500 = £250,000
  • £10,000 charity of year donation x 5 categories = £ 50,000
  • Small Charities grants ( for operational costs ) = £ 20,000
  • Start-up loans ( carry over from previous year )
  • Charity event sponsorship 50 charities x £8,000 = £160,000
  • Administration = £ 20,000

Potential impact of events sponsorship: example £500 for Dragon Boat Racing generated £12,000
With a ratio of 24:1 charity sponsorship the CSP could enable £3,840,000
 
The Trustee Board
The board of Trustees will consist of skill sets such as finance, marketing, strategy, governance. The board will also have representation from both the charity and business community.

 
I would welcome comments and suggestions.