The View from the Boardroom - UNDP Trinidad and Tobago

The View from the Boardroom - CEO Study on Corporate Social Responsibility in Trinidad and TobagoCHAPTER 3The Third Sector Revisited – Private Sector and Nonprofit PartnershipsCapacity-Development for NonprofitOrganizations through Corporate VolunteeringCase StudyACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants.We support our 147,000 members and 424,000 students in 170 countries, through a network of83 national offices and centres. ACCA Caribbean is one such national office supporting 22,000members, students and affiliates in the region.While CSR is incorporated into the operational strategy of ACCA, at a national and regional level,the Caribbean office sought meaningful ways in which to impact in a positive way on the widersociety. The challenge was to find an approach closely related to our core business that wouldnot only have the required impact at a social level but also be sustainable. Organisational capacitybuilding among local NGOs was identified as a possible area within which we could make the mostmeaningful impact. Many such agencies provide much needed support to those most at risk inlocal communities, yet are hampered by a lack of access to funding from international organizationsbecause of poor or inadequate financial and administrative record keeping practices. As such, a largenumber of them are not sustainable in the long term.The particular challenges faced by NGOs presented an ideal opportunity for a capacity building exercisebased the premise of skills based volunteering. One within which the accounting and managementskills of ACCA affiliates would be matched with the specific organisational needs of local nonprofitorganisations. Such an intervention could bring long term and sustainable benefit to communitiesby strengthening the capacity of the NGOs that serve them and to ACCA affiliates by providingopportunities to gain important and relevant work experience through volunteer assignments.The pilot phase of this project was launched in March of 2011 and ran for a 6-month period afterwhich an assessment of its success and the possibility of expansion would be examined. Ourdecision to partner with the United Nations Volunteer Programme (UNV) Trinidad and Tobago wasbased on the substantial work they have done and continue to do to raise awareness locally on thearea of corporate volunteerism along with their knowledge of the local NGO sector.In the initial stages, a beneficiary NGO – The Just Because Foundation - was identified becauseof their seemingly immediate readiness for such an intervention. A thorough assessment of theirneeds was then conducted the results of which were used to determine the specific skills requiredfrom the volunteer as well as the deliverables.Once the skill set had been determined, we created a resource pool of affiliates who not onlymatched the skill requirement but were also interested in volunteering. The selected candidatewas subsequently presented with a work plan, a monthly reporting structure and stated deliverableswhich included completed, audit-ready financial accounts for identified periods, an operations manualand a chart of accounts. Monthly review meetings were held and challenges dealt with as theyarose.In conclusion, the project exceeded expectations and provided an excellent template for similarinitiatives in the future.Lesley John, Marketing ManagerACCA Caribbean54