1 CSR and Creating Shared Value Mridula Joyner, CFRE & Vicki Cummings YMCA of Greater Toronto LACA Conference September 28, 2011.

1

CSR and Creating Shared Value

Mridula Joyner, CFRE & Vicki Cummings YMCA of Greater Toronto

LACA Conference September 28, 2011

Overview• Why has CSR become so important to governments, corporations and

charities?

• Impact of a changing global community

• North American vs Latin American and Caribbean context re: CSR

• Positioning the YMCA and its collaborations with other NGO’s as a good CSR partner

• How to engage

• Practical Tactics

• Final thoughts/questions/discussion

Why has CSR become so important to governments, corporations and charities?

• Continued high levels of inequalities and social mobility have perpetuated high levels of poverty, lack of education, unemployment, heath care and environmental issues

• Increasingly difficult for governments alone to deal with these problems

– Current environment of high sovereign debt loads will further amplify this issue

• Charities and NGO’s, often independently or in partnership with government, provide service delivery at the community level and struggle to cope with increasing demands and shoe-string budgets

• Corporate sector understands that their success depends on the success and health of the communities they serve and their business decisions need to reflect that understanding

Impact of a Changing Global Community

What’s driving this change?

• Demographics• Technology• Economy• Environment• Politics• Business• Consumer

A Corporate Perspective

• Brand differentiation

– Separate from competition

– Customer loyalty

• Human Resources

– Employee engagement, recruitment and loyalty

• Environmental Sustainability

– Impact of corporate footprint

• Risk Management

– Reputation and best practices

• Government/Stakeholder Relations

– Leverage to influence policy and regulation

Business has changed.

• 10 years ago, corporate marketing and philanthropy were two separate strategies

• Today, companies are more focused and strategic regarding the social, environmental and economic impact of the business

• This has lead to an alignment, and in many cases, an integration of philanthropic, marketing and operational dollars

The need for a different approach

• Recent economic crisis has created unprecedented sovereign debt issues

• Demographic shifts (i.e. the global aging of baby boomers)

• Governments alone cannot solve the problems

• Corporations alone will not solve the problems

• Individuals alone are unable solve the problems

8

North American vs Latin American and Caribbean Context

• North American CSR movement is more mature and structured

• CSR strategies in Latin American are being developed to start addressing very basic human needs in order to create sustainability

• Identify and leverage key multinational companies (e.g. Procter & Gamble and Nestlé) with successful CSR models to share learnings and help build capacity

• Key learnings from North America model can be shared and leveraged to build framework for Latin America CSR strategies

– This forum can be the beginning of a dialogue and information exchange to help facilitate change

9

Creating Shared Value

10

Positioning the YMCA and its collaborations with other NGO’s as a good a CSR partner

• Strength of the YMCA’s and partner NGO’s is their strong connection to community

• They are often acutely aware of the social and economic issues impacting their communities and provide many of the essential programs/services required to address critical needs

• This allows for strategic leveraging with government and the corporate sector with respect to their critical role

• Through innovative/creative approaches the YMCA’s/partner NGO’s can create a ‘shared-value’ proposition for both public and private sector consideration

– E.g. YMCA Diabetes programs in YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and YMCA Buffalo Niagara

11

Healthy Community

Provides programs/services in 4 key areas that are aligned with 6 social issues we’ve identified as critical to building healthy communities:

1.Poverty2.Obesity3.Youth unemployment4.Access to child care5.High school drop out rates6.Diversity and social inclusion

Financial development strategies arebeing repositioned to align with thisframework

YMCA of Greater Toronto

12

13

Practical Tactics• Vision

– Have a clear understanding of your organization as a catalyst for creating shared value and social change

• Strategy– A robust strategy that identifies a clear focus and articulates ambitious goals

• Delivery– Effective delivery that leverages assets and expertise across functions and

service areas within your organization as well as external partners and stakeholders

• Performance– Management of performance that seeks to measure and learn from results, bring

successful efforts to scale and communicate progress

Discuss example of YMCA of Greater Toronto strategy with sanofi-aventis and diabetes program

How to Engage• Determine the key social issues affecting your community (poverty, unemployment, health care

(such as childhood/youth obesity, etc.)

• Identify which YMCA/community programs align with these issues (e.g. Access to child care in the Greater Toronto area and increase in YMCA child care centres)

• Create a mechanism for measuring goals, outcomes and impact both current and future– May be able to access partner resources to facilitate

• Explore how can these programs be leveraged to further social and economic change in your community (e.g. Nestlė and Procter & Gamble engagement in Latin America)

• Research companies your community that may have an interest in aligning with your organization to address these issues

– Approach Canadian Embassies in your areas to assist in identifying potential Canadian corporations doing business in you area (Canadian Government recently concluded trade mission to Latin America)

– Engage your volunteers– Shared learnings and potential partnership with Canadian YMCA’s

• Begin a dialogue with potential corporate partners to assess potential for support

14

final thoughts/questions/discussion

15

Thank you!

16