Unleashing the Power of NGOs for Greater Good

As companies continue to respond to the power of private citizens and their quest to improve society, they are also being forced to re-evaluate their partnerships and accountability of their contributions to the community.

Never has there been a greater time to align more aggressively with non-profit social actors – NGOs (UN Agencies, development agencies and civil society organizations).

The business focus of NGOs includes critical initiatives such as healthcare, disease, energy efficiency, agriculture, environmental quality protection, children’s’ poverty, civil rights and so on. However, some NGOs are considered to be disorganized, bureaucratic and have fragmented communications.

It’s not all about philanthropy...............

Collaborating and aligning with these businesses’ are important avenues for giving, can both benefit and mobilize the public at large in advancing good causes.

Companies have a timely opportunity to review and collaborate with some competent NGOs thanks to The United Nations Global Compact, Dalberg Global Development Advisors and the Financial Times.

The companies aligned to identify and analyze a group of non-profit social actors who have proven competence in partnering with companies. Dalberg received 865 valid partnership ratings from 445 companies in response to a survey distributed to more than 20,000 companies worldwide about their partnership experiences - rated on adaptability, execution, and communication. Key highlights of the findings:

• 73% concluded that corporate partnerships would be important for their own company over the next 3 years
• The majority cited successful implementation of effective and relevant CSR programs as the main reason for partnering with NGOs
• Core business and advocacy partnerships are perceived to have higher impact than those focused on philanthropy

The three most pursued areas of partnership were in Education, Environmental Protection and Communications, while Microfinance received high interest.

Lions Club International, Environmental Defense, WRI and TechnoServe ranked among the top 34 global organizations listed. Additionally, 53 local/regional NGOs emerged as leaders.

Proper collaboration and alignment with the NGO community as a key component of a company's responsibility initiatives, represents considerable advantages and benefits for both parties. These include increasing the profits of their businesses and donor acquisition, and for NGOs to take advantage of corporate resources, expand these markets, make contributors' money go further and.......enable greater community impact.

For more information about this study – www.dalberg.com
‘Business guide to partnering with NGOs and the United Nations’

Please Sir, Can I have Some More?

The fact of the matter is that there are still more than two million New York City residents across the five boroughs at risk of hunger. Despite the city’s emergency food programs (EFP’s) – approximately 900 soup kitchens and food pantries in New York - providing food to half of them, there is still a dire food shortage.

A couple of other statistics:

• Approximately 500,000 city residents are eligible but not receiving food stamps, many of whom may be turning to EFPs instead. Less than one-half (46 percent) of all EFP participant households are enrolled in the federal Food Stamp Program.


• Of all EFP participant households, about one-third (34 percent) choose between food and housing, about one-third (34 percent) choose between food and utilities, and more than one-fifth (22 percent) choose between food and medical care.

I bring you attention to The Food Bank’s NYC upcoming hunger awareness Go Orange campaign taking place on October 15-19. The campaign is calling upon all New Yorkers’ to do what they can do to help raise funds for the holiday season and the goal is to raise one million meals.

This year, city landmarks, media partners, corporations, musicians, restaurants, supermarkets, retail stores and more are Going Orange throughout the city to help raise these funds and awareness for hunger relief. New York’s skyline will also Go Orange including its most famous landmarks and towers such as The Empire State Building.

For further information about how to participate and take action: http://www.foodbanknyc.org/

A little Orange anyone?

Source: Hunger Safety Net 2004, Hunger in America

How ‘Doing Good in Society’ Increases Competitive Business Edge - Audio Presentation

Companies ‘license to operate’ obligations have changed dramatically due to world events and the globalization of our economy.

The headlines are dominated with news about everyone trying to be green, product quality and safety, corporate reputations and performance. With recent books such as ‘Giving’ by Bill Clinton, and ‘The Triple Bottom Line', co-authored by Andrew Savitz and Karl Weber corporations key stakeholders’ are more educated than ever about the contributions and impact of corporations on society, economy and the environment.

Companies are now expected to be good corporate citizens not only by their shareholders and government regulators, but by their customers.

However, doubt still lingers in the business and financial community about justifying ‘Doing Good in Society’ and the point of sustainability. The fundamental challenge for them is whether it distracts from core business focus areas, provides long term growth and returns to investors.

The tide is turning for the naysayers.........

A recent national survey conducted by Grant Thornton among 500 business executives uncovered that 77 percent said they expected corporate responsibility initiatives to have a major impact on their business strategies over the next several years. Furthermore, the three greatest benefits of enacting CSR are: improves public opinion and customer relations, as well as attracts/retains talent. For survey results, go to www.grantthornton.com - Corporate responsibility becoming integral to business strategy.

We invite you to listen to our audio presentation that provides a perspective on how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR), is becoming an increasingly critical component of reputation management and competitive business edge.

http://www.podcastnowproductions.com/dx/node/515

The CRO Conference Addressing 'Operationalization' of Sustainability on September 12

The CRO has a stellar line up of speakers and timely topics at a one-day fall conference to be held at the Union League Club in Chicago tomorrow.

Topics will cover stakeholder engagement, supply chain, and alignment of CSR with the bottom line. Also, they will address two major trends facing corporate social responsibility officers, in the growing $32 billion CR industry; the expansion from merely defense in the face of regulatory challenges to offensive functions, or making sustainability efforts operational.

Featuring keynote speaker Murray Martin, CEO of Pitney Bowes, the conference will also include a special multi-level company session with a board member, marketing communications expert and manufacturing executive from a global corporation discussing their global sustainability efforts—from board room to execution.

A panel featuring Susan Graff, Principal of ERS along with the CEOs of Baxter Healthcare and Interface Group will share learning’s about setting and surpassing sustainable practice benchmarks.

The CRO is a membership media platform for corporate practitioners, professional service providers and non-profit influencers' in corporate responsibility. Example members include IBM, Avon, Starbucks, Intel, Pepsi, and Harvard.

For more information - http://www.thecro.com/conferences.

AMERICA’S KIDS NEED MORE PIE

World military expenditure in 2005 increased to $1,001 billion and the US is responsible for 80 percent of that increase. While America is first in nuclear defense capabilities and expenditures among industrialized countries to the tune of $30 billion annually, it is shocking that America’s kids are so woefully neglected.
The stark realities…..

Top Left: Government Pie Chart (Office of Management and Budget)

• 18 percent of all children (ages 0-17) live in poverty
• 9.3 million children are without health insurance
• A child dies before his or her first birthday every 19 minutes
• A child or teen is killed by gunfire every 3 hours

For more than 10 years, lawmakers mainly focused on sweeping welfare changes passed in 1996 that imposed time limits and strict work requirements on welfare recipients. This did not bode well for our poor children, despite President Bush’s proposal to continue childcare support at $4.8 billion per year, as part of his Welfare Reform.

In addition to the humanitarian aspects, there is also an economic case for reducing childhood poverty and it's impact on the US economy.

Children who grow up poor in the United States cost the economy $500 billion a year because they are less productive, earn less money, commit more crimes and have more health-related expenses.

Yet, according to experts, as much as $13 billion could be cut from U.S. nuclear spending without compromising our national security and strong position.

Can we please give our children a bigger slice of the American Federal budget pie?

There are several initiatives that need further funding and support to benefit our future generations. To name a few:

• Child care assistance to low-income families
• Health insurance
• Community and housing mobilization
• Expand the earned income tax credit and child tax credit
• Higher minimum wages
• Pre-kindergarten programs, elementary and secondary reforms

Let’s do right for America’s kids and society at large.

Stats Source: Children’s Defense Fund. ChildStats.gov. Washington Post Graphic.

GIVE THE CMO A BREAK

A recent Ad Age article (Blame CMO Turnover on Metrics Mania) states that CMOs are facing ‘Death by Data’ due an extreme focus on metrics getting in the way of creativity and innovation which is required to maintain competitive edge.

The headlines continue to be dominated with news, ad nauseum, about abrupt CMO departures, shortening tenures, turnovers galore and now re-defining the CMO role altogether.

A study conducted by the CMO Council, confirms a perception versus reality gap exists between the expectations that CEOs have of CMOs and actual performance.

While the good news is that CEOs still consider marketing to be a critical part of corporate strategy, two-thirds of CEOs say their top marketers don’t provide enough evidence about true performance and ROI.

Hmmm…did the CMO ever receive clarity about ‘true performance’ goals and ROI?

Today’s CMOs have a lot on their plate in our low trust environment.

Aside from presenting the numbers, they may be handling questionable ethics and business operations, brand reputation, keeping up with ‘Word-of-Mouth’ marketing and social networking, online commerce, maintaining a competitive edge, producing the next product and so on - all under the direction of a CEO who might be expecting too much and would rather keep the door closed.

Perhaps it is time for the CEO and the board to re-define their views and expectations of the CMO - fix the CMOs bruised Achilles heel.

With the Apple’s of this world leading the path of innovation, isn’t their enough to focus on and stay ahead?

After all, isn’t the CMO fundamental objective to market and sell more products/services? A few suggestions to help our CEOs and CMOs:

Functional Organization: Boards should stop creating CMO positions for the wrong reasons such as having them fix a fledging marketing organization or be a scapegoat for the reputation impaired. A Chief Ethics/Compliance Officer could be appropriate for fixing these issues and a good bridge for the CEO and CMO.

Open the Corner Office Door: Establish a better and regular dialogue between the CEO and CMO about marketing objectives, performance expectations and ROI tracking.

Focus: The customer is still king. As President and Founder of The CMO Club, Pete Krainik, recently commented, 'overcome the fact that in most companies the marketing group is not close enough to the product/service, nor close enough to the customer.' Know the product well, poll and take customer opinions seriously.

Social Responsibility: More than two-thirds of Americans say they consider a company’s business practices when deciding what to buy, according to a 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Study, and want their employers to support a social cause. Embrace the firm’s social and environmental purpose activities and integrate them holistically with business and marketing practices - top to bottom.

Stakeholder Liaisons: With customers and employees keeping track of their favorite companies and products, be sure to consistently communicate and demonstrate the value proposition.

CMOs live long and prosper.

LESS LIP SERVICE FOR AFRICA IN NEED

We have all witnessed the buzz of media and celebrity-driven attention about the African continent in the context of lost hope, opportunity and social responsibility voyages. Vanity Fair’s July issue on Africa includes a plethora of celebrity cover photos (21) and profile interviews such as Brad Pitt with Desmond Tutu. Movies like The Last King of Scotland, Tsotsi and Hotel Rwanda demonstrate the harsh realities of African politics and suffering.

However, not enough is being done to address the issues facing Africans.

Some celebrity efforts are to be commended such as Oprah Winfrey opening a girl’s school in South Africa, and Madonna’s non-profit Raising Malawi.

While it is all well and good that celebrities have done a good job calling attention to Africa and creating individual social responsibility models, corporations should do the same.

I spent an impressionable childhood in Kenya. Aside from the beauty, people and wildlife, I witnessed the slums, poverty and under-nourished infants. Africa wasn’t on the map when I came to America 18 years ago. Top line Kenyan issues include a corrupt government and the demand for ivory diminishing what was once a healthy elephant population. Mr. Wainaina’s individual tale – ‘Generation Kenya’ http://www.vanityfair.com/ - illustrates Kenya’s rocky road.

Americans’ are increasingly traveling to Africa on safari, have life changing experiences and are in awe of it's beauty.

Today, many corporations are eyeing the continents resources - or - already have business interests – including operations, customers and employees. We need to better educate the public about the realities and opportunities of Africa. Also, enlist help to mitigate the extreme poverty, disease, threats to wildlife and tourism, and infant mortality.

Corporations, aside from donating funds, have the resources, on-site support, products and services to support programs on a fundamental level. These include providing shelter and care to orphans, saving newborn lives, education, drinking water, medical supplies, job creation and transportation.

It is timely for corporations to add Africa to the CSR agenda, engage stakeholders, and align with their cause-related marketing programs. Following are some top line realities about these issues and suggested organizations to support:

HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria: There are 25.8 million HIV/Aids sufferers in Africa and 8,000 people die every day - http://www.businessfightsaids.org/

Poverty: More than 70 percent of the continent’s poor people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for food and livelihood. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 218 million people live in extreme poverty -http://www.irr.org/

Education: Ten African countries report adult literacy rates of less than 30%. In America, the adult literacy rate is 99% - http://www.oprahsangelnetwork.org/

Infant Mortality: Twenty-two African countries have infant mortality rates higher than 100 per 1,000 live births - http://www.savethechildren.org/

Wildlife: In 2006, as a result of poaching and mass slaughter in the 1980s, there are only 30,000 elephants in Kenya, down from 70,000 in the 60s - http://www.savetheelephants.com/

Corporations need to realize the longer term benefits helping combat a continent in suffering, supporting timely causes in countries where they operate, as well as ultimately protecting their business interests.