What do you do if your CSR initiatives lack innovative fundraising and philanthropic ideas?

Collaboration with like-minded organizations is a cornerstone of effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. By partnering with others who share your values and goals, you can amplify your impact and reach. When organizations come together, they bring diverse perspectives, resources, and expertise to the table. This collaboration often leads to the creation of innovative solutions to social and environmental challenges. Whether it's through joint fundraising events, shared volunteer initiatives, or collaborative philanthropic programs, working together allows for the pooling of resources and the maximization of impact.

This is the most important aspect to be considered while working on CSR strategy and roadmap. Need based CSR Assessment is required to understand the requirements and plan an effective CSR Plan aligned with needs of community instead of working on a plan which is aligned with global vision of community but lacks local aspects which could have actually driven community engagement and effective stakeholder participation for community development.

First, take a step back and make sure your CSR initiatives align with what your company stands for—its mission, vision, and values. If they do, you’re already on the right track. Next, pinpoint a specific need that connects directly to your company’s focus. Understanding this need helps make the next steps smoother. Gather a diverse team for a brainstorming session to come up with creative and unique fundraising ideas. By ensuring these ideas are both true to your company and clearly address real issues, you’re setting your campaign or project for success = positive impact!

Primeiro passo é escutar os stakeholders tanto os internos quanto os externos para ter uma ideia geral das dores e oportunidades; Segundo passo é procurar entender melhor o ecossistema da responsabilidade social e da filantropia e trocar ideias e conhecimentos com pessoas dessas áreas; Terceiro passo é reunir pessoas-chave, utilizar metodologias como design thinking, por exemplo, para cocriar solu??es.

- Explore inspiring examples: Investigate successful cases of other companies that have implemented creative strategies in their CSR programs. - Collaborate with NGOs and nonprofit organizations - Crowdfunding - Cause promotion: Use your communication channels to raise awareness in the community about the causes you support. - Volunteer programs: Involve your employees in volunteering activities that can also generate funds.

This is the most crucial part. And one of the important step could be - infusion of new blood into the system bringing new ideas and suggestions. Engaging interns for need assessment, project assessments, gazing community aspirations, etc may add entirely different perspective to the program.

In addition to Harnessing the skills and experience of employees and other stakeholders to find Solutions and bring about positive change. It can be helpful to galvanize the wisdom and experience of the people whose lives will be improved in addition to community specialists and charities etc who have walked the path before, and have a skill set and specialisms which may be additional to your workforce. Having the buy-in of those in the community will make them more accepting of the Solutions and further solidify the Goodwill and mark you out as an organisation with sincere and strong heart-led social responsibility.

When brainstorming for ideas, do not hesitate to reach out to key stakeholders from outside your team or company. Best ideas are found in unlikely places, so cultivate an open mind and dare to ask new people about their ideas regarding the CSR actions you could take. Investigating about best standards in your industry and/or in other regions might be a useful practice as well. You will probably not be able to copy these ideas, but they can serve as very useful inspiration.

This aspect is crucial for planning CSR strategy and should be carried out after proper mapping of all stakeholder groups and assessing needs.

Assessing the needs with empathy and brainstorming ideas with all key stakeholders would be the way forward. Innovation will be aligned for being practical by bouncing the ideas with our major stakeholders- the beneficiaries. Solutions for the people need to be assessed by the people.

While in general it is a good idea. Only looking for trends or need to follow the best practices can be counterproductive. As more often than not, similar problems under different circumstances may need different approaches to resolve. So learn from the trend but keep an open mind. Drive solutions that set trends.

Leveraging trends is a powerful strategy to inject innovation into your CSR fundraising and philanthropy efforts. By aligning with current social, technological, or economic trends, you can enhance engagement and support for your initiatives. Here’s a brief guide: - Research Current Trends - Use Social Media Insights - Collaborate with Trending Brands or Influencers For example, if environmental sustainability is a key focus, and there's growing interest in zero-waste lifestyles, you might launch a campaign promoting reusable products. Collaborating with influencers who advocate for sustainability can broaden your reach and impact, tapping into their followers' interest in eco-friendly practices.

When your CSR initiatives face a dearth of innovative fundraising and philanthropic ideas, it’s essential to leverage trends. Stay attuned to industry shifts, emerging technologies, and societal changes. Explore novel approaches such as crowdfunding, collaborations with influencers, or sustainable partnerships. By aligning your initiatives with current trends, you can infuse creativity and relevance into your fundraising efforts, ultimately driving positive impact and fostering community engagement.

Thanks Sadaf. I would also add the need to identify and engage your critical stakeholders and understand what trends, issues, growth opportunities, world views are shaping the medium to long term interests and plans. This should enhance the strategic relevance of your CSR initiative(s) and help you clearly see where value can be added (from the perspective of your stakeholders). Subsequently, this should help put the company on a path to engaging a more diverse portfolio of potential funders and partners, and help highlight what internal capabilities you should be communicating about if already in-house or which ones you should look to developing in the short to medium term.

Stay informed about current trends and developments in CSR, fundraising, and philanthropy. This could include emerging technologies, changes in consumer behavior, or shifts in societal attitudes. Identify opportunities to leverage these trends to enhance your CSR initiatives. For example, if there's a growing interest in sustainable living, consider launching initiatives that promote environmental conservation or renewable energy.

Partnerships extend far beyond just cash contributions. Instead of focusing on traditional fundraising, become a knowledge partner. It opens the door for a strategic collaboration that leverages your company's unique strengths to support your partner's mission and create impactful CSR initiatives. Here's how it can work: Share Your Expertise: Partner with a social enterprise and offer pro-bono consulting to help them. Resource Reinforcement: Donate your team's time to create strategic social media campaigns. Employee Engagement: Organize employee volunteering days to provide human resources. It strengthens your company's social impact without solely relying on traditional fundraising methods. It's a win-win for everyone.

More and more is clear that our challenges as humanity are complex and urgent. It is impossible to consider that a single organization will bring the solutiions. Partnering should be a must have in any csr or philanthropic effort. After values allingment, the more diversity you have in your partners group the better.

It is always good to have partnership with NGO’s, waste handlers and engage youth and entire community in having a successful CSR implementation plan. It gives penetration on ground and reach yo all sections of society for implementation of CSR plan

Collaborating with like-minded organizations is essential for innovative CSR. It fosters community engagement and sparks creativity within your team. By working together, you gain fresh ideas and make a greater impact through unique fundraising events and philanthropic programs.

I strongly believe in teamwork. In my experience, the lack of resources in the organization must not translate into a lack of effort to make a good impact in our communities. There are many organizations dedicated to non-profit causes, and we must join forces with them to amplify their outreach. Big companies can bring to the table their reputation, which can strengthen the credibility and legitimacy of the third-party cause. Also, employees can be directly involved in a CSR initiative, acting as volunteers alongside the experts.

I stress the need of fieldwork with employees. They could never feel the impact of their activities if they remain on the officework/ backstage. Indeed, they are part of the transformation they are working for. They must embrace it.

Galvanising employees to feel more involved in the CSR side of a business is really important in bringing the CSR mission to life. Developing a culture of intrapreneurship formalised by facilitating monthly or quarterly meetings where all employees are heard and contribute towards the sustainable future of the business they work for, is shown to have a positive effect. Notably the attrition rates for B Corps (8%) are around half those than for non-B Corp companies (UK B Corp data), so there is a good indication that creating the right environment for employees to be included within the mission has positive benefits for all.

When your corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives need fresh fundraising and philanthropic ideas, consider payroll deductions, matching gifts, volunteer opportunities and financial incentives. The most important thing is to keep employees informed, engaged and inspired...of course make it easy too.

Happy to talk to this as I have built businesses from scratch. I would be keen to look at current fundraising strategy and talk to opportunities for strengthening.

Engage your employees in CSR initiatives by offering opportunities for volunteerism, skills-based volunteering, or employee-led initiatives. Foster a culture of giving and social responsibility within your organization by providing support and recognition for employee involvement in CSR activities. Encourage feedback and ideas from employees to ensure that CSR initiatives resonate with their interests and passions.

I would add: ensure evaluation of impact doesn't only tell the story of what you have achieved as a CSR initiative or organisation. Ensure the storyline is aligned with what each of your key internal and external stakeholders see as value from their perspective. It makes it easier for your initiative to be identified with and laying the ground for potential pathways to what next with your critical stakeholders. Ultimately, the company wins.

Develop metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the impact of your CSR initiatives effectively. This could include quantitative metrics such as funds raised, volunteer hours logged, or beneficiaries served, as well as qualitative indicators such as stakeholder satisfaction and community feedback. Regularly assess and evaluate the outcomes of your initiatives to identify areas of success and opportunities for improvement. Use evaluation findings to inform decision-making, allocate resources effectively, and communicate the impact of your CSR efforts to stakeholders.

Evaluate Impact is a moment truth for decided next program or future initiative. From this step we can improve about something crucial after implementasi for future.

Demonstrate a real social change: KPIs and effectiveness are essential, but philanthropic initiatives must have positive and sustainable social impacts in the long term. A basic example about planting trees: the KPIs are not just how many trees were planted, beyond this activity: How many trees have survived after some years? Has the ecosystem been restored? Has there been a measurable benefit for any community? Facts are the support of any fundraising campaign. Furthermore, these outcomes enhance organisations’ credibility.

Love the problem — this is how you start designing any CSR program. > Because it requires you to drill down: how did the problem for your target stakeholders start, who started it, what are the stakeholders are doing that keeps the problem alive, and how/who might be able to mitigate it — basically, what/who are the dependencies of the problem keeping it alive. Loving the problem goes beyond knowing. You will want to keep going. > Then you can design a CSR program that fits into the kind of resources available to you at that time. Improve your CSR intervention over time as you begin to see impact and more supporters who can bring in fresh resources. If your motivation is one-time and serves to make you look good, err, just go home.

In my experience, authentic / localized analysis and world class last mile delivery. Impact lies in between these two levers.

Consider what your company can provide as a "service". Sometimes you don't have the money to donate but can you donate your expertise or product? Do you have employees in the business who can help share their expertise with children or those looking for jobs? There are always creative ways to expand your social reach.

Remember, creativity and collaboration are key. Tailor these ideas to your organization’s unique context and mission! Start with your assets.