This section describes several different ways in which companies can involve their employees in supporting the work of the non-profit sector. It includes the following methods:

 

Staff can agree to have a specified monthly amount debited directly from their salary and paid to an NPO or community programme, which they have chosen to support. For instance Old Mutual’s 'Adopt an Orphan' programme attracted monthly financial commitments from over 250 staff members, which helped to support more than 350 orphans.

 

Charities Aid Foundation SA has developed a ‘Give As You Earn’ payroll programme that is easy to install and run, and works for any amount of money from as little as ten rands. CAF SA will handle the administration and distribution of the money and audit the NPOs receiving the donations. It can operate in several ways:

This programme has proved extremely successful since its launch in 2002. Many companies now match their employees’ donations. Millions of rands have been distributed to over a hundred different NPOs since its inception.

Absa has a ‘Give As You Earn’ (GAYE) programme which was launched in 2001 to raise funds to combat HIV and AIDS. Over 16% of Absa’s staff contribute to this fund and their contributions are matched by the company.

Matched Giving

With this programme time volunteered by employees is matched by a cash donation from the company to the relevant NPO. AngloGold Ashanti’s ‘Hearts of Gold’ programme encourages staff to volunteer their time, which is then matched with cash donations. FirstRand, BPH Billiton and Old Mutual run similar ‘Matched Giving’ volunteer programmes. The manager of the Old Mutual Foundation said this approach is critical to the success of such programmes: “ If the staff are going to make a sacrifice the company should partner their efforts.”

Company-supported volunteering

Companies can encourage and support employee volunteering by:

Recognising and valuing your staffs’ volunteer activities through an award scheme is an effective way to support and promote employee volunteering. For instance Absa has a community category in its Prestige Awards, which are given in recognition of an outstanding contribution to community upliftment.

 

Benefits to companies of involving their employees in a structured volunteering programme

Most companies now accept that it is not enough to simply give money to Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). Both communities and the government are looking to businesses, large and small, to help solve the devastating problems arising from the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Corporate Social Investment (CSI) is all about using the extensive expertise and skills of business, in combination with financial assistance, to help the government and non-profit sector become more effective at service delivery and social upliftment. More and more companies in South Africa are actively supporting community programmes, not only as public relations and marketing exercises, but to also promote a particular corporate vision and social investment policy.

Involving employees in choosing and helping to implement different community initiatives has many additional benefits:

• Increases employee skills through working on and solving very different types of challenges
• Improves staff morale and job satisfaction, enhancing company loyalty
• Improves interpersonal staff relations, thereby doubling as an excellent team-building exercise
• Widens awareness of community problems and helps to break down social and cultural barriers that exist both within business and the wider community
• Improves the public’s perception of the company and its values. This not only promotes brand loyalty but has the additional benefit of attracting high-calibre recruits

Examples of successful employee-involvement projects addressing HIV and AIDS problems

Afrox has a community involvement programme that focuses on homes for orphans and vulnerable children with over 125 employee-driven projects which help over 13 500 such children. The United Nations identified Afrox’s programme as a model for community-business involvement.

FirstRand
FirstRand launched its Volunteers Programme in 2002 to encourage and support the volunteer work that many of its employees were already doing within the community. The programme has a 40-member volunteer committee that offers ongoing support and ideas as well as ensuring that employees are happy with their involvement, whether it is giving money or time to community projects. A Volunteers website allows employees to share experiences and ideas and encourages other employees to become involved. The amount of money donated by employees is matched by FirstRand and given to various projects including orphanages and feeding schemes.