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Community Impact Index – supported by The Midcounties Co-operative “Expert views: What are the current trends in community investment? Michelle Smith / Group: Over the last few years our experience is that local communities need our help more than ever. Corporate organisations are tending to focus on business purpose and themes, how they can make the most impact to build their profile. From the perspective of cooperatives, communities have always been fundamental to what we are about and are key to who we are and how we operate. Our organisation is differentiated by focusing on members and their views – we take our cue from what they feel is important and how we can make a difference co-operatively and collaboratively. Malcolm Brown / Scotmid: A lot of our success in community activity has been through looking at what is relevant to our communities at the moment. A lot of what we do isn’t being done by anybody else – we look at what help our communities need, what solutions could work well, and what we as a co-operative can do in the areas that we cover. Mike Tuffrey / Corporate Citizenship: We see investment taking place in three main areas: charitable contributions (helping without expecting anything back); community investment (linking a cause to the business, eg a supermarket running a workshop on healthy eating); and commercial initiatives (basically cause-related marketing – for instance, buy this product and we’ll give 10p to your school). We looked at a subsample of people who had been reporting using the LBG corporate community investment measurement model over 10 years, and we found an appreciable switch away from the charitable gifts, and into the win-win community investments. We’ve had a big shift; ten years ago, roughly two thirds of what members were doing counted as a ‘charitable gift’ and only 30% was classified as ‘community investment’. That has now reversed – community investment is 70% of what people are doing. The other switch over ten years is an increase in employees, and a doubling of the proportion of employees who are undertaking voluntary activities. Midcounties’ Regional Community programme uses a focused, measured approach to make a difference in its trading areas Andy Melia / BITC: We are increasingly seeing businesses and co-operatives shifting from thinking about the traditional ways they contribute to the community (such as donations or volunteering), to leveraging all the aspects of their business to deliver social value. This can now include, for example: changing procurement practices to support small, local businesses entering the supply chain; considering how employment practices include certain vulnerable groups; and sharing the knowledge and skills within the business with community groups through skillsbased employee volunteering. Mike Pickering / Midcounties: There is an emerging focus on investing locally and supporting community issues that really matter to those who work, live and learn in the local community. This investment is taking place in various forms, including financial grants, colleagues volunteering their time to support community projects and fundraising with the local community. The emergence of the 5 pence carrier bag charge levy has also opened up further investment opportunities for retailers, providing local autonomy to decide how to invest this levy to support the local community. There is also a growing trend for businesses to measure the return on their community investment in greater detail, in terms of both the impact being made in the community and the associated business benefits, whether through a more positive profile or greater appeal to customers. We have introduced our Regional Community programme to ensure we have a focused, measured approach to supporting communities in identified locations where the Society has a strong trading presence. Minnie Moll / East of England: I think there is more focus on working together in partnership, rather than just giving money to organisations. Good companies are more likely to look for synergy with their business, so that there is strategic sense to their community investment rather than an individual’s personal interest, or a more philanthropic approach. 30 Co-operative News 15 November 2016
Community Impact Index – supported by The Midcounties Co-operative How are co-ops working in communities? Case study: Setting up the sustainability plan The Southern Co-operative recently launched a new community programme – Love Your Neighbourhood – which links to their three sustainability priorities: Share, Protect and Support. Jessica Hughes, community investment manager, explains ... Southern’s Love Your Neighbourhood programme focuses on four types of community investment – local funding, local fundraising partnerships, the donation of goods and staff volunteering. Below and right: Southern’s Love Your Neighbourhood programme in action The programme is the result of extensive research – we took the time to reflect on our historical approach to community investment, looking at what worked well and what could be improved. We also looked at societal and community needs across our operating area and considered which issues were most material to our business. More than 4,500 members, colleagues and partners were surveyed, and we held a series of consultation forums with colleagues at all levels of the business. BITC carried out the surveys on our behalf, to give us an independent view and to challenge our thinking. They then provided recommendations based on their findings. We engage with other co-operatives when we’re developing policies – discussing broad themes and sharing best practise. However, we each have very different trading footprints, in terms of geography and business functions, so our investment programmes have to meet different needs. At The Southern Co-operative, we have always supported a range of issues and initiatives, both at a local and a regional level. What we have now done is focus on those areas that are of most importance to our local communities. This enables everyone in the business to channel our energies where they are most effective, and hopefully provide a more meaningful impact for all. Our local programme, Love Your Neighbourhood, is all about building community resilience. It’s centred around creating greener, safer, healthier, more inclusive communities. This is supplemented with more strategic activity linked to our key business objectives, such as strengthening the local economy, and education. Love Your Neighbourhood is still in its infancy, but we are already seeing successes. Colleagues, customers and members are engaging and there is an ever increasing number of local charities being selected as fundraising partners for their local store. We also have four regional campaign partners. Our activities with them are starting to have an impact on issues such as reducing community violence, engaging young people in nature and changing attitudes towards disabilities. Most large businesses now see the importance of community investment, but I believe co-operatives take this a step further. We believe that we have a purpose beyond profit. The Southern Co-operative is a ‘constant’ in many people’s lives, having operated for more than 143 years, and we take this responsibility very seriously. Community investment is simply how we do business. We aim to consider community impacts in our decision making, and we seek community based solutions to business needs, driving mutual benefits for all. 15 November 2016 Co-operative News 31
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