THE COSTA FOUNDATION STRATEGIC PLAN
2017-2020
OUR VISION
Our vision is for every child in a coffee growing community to have a safe quality education.
OUR MISSION
Many coffee-growing communities are situated in inaccessible rural areas in some of the world’s
poorest countries. As a consequence children in coffee-growing communities have limited or no
access to education.
Our mission is to improve the life chances of boys and girls in coffee-growing communities by
providing the opportunity of a safe, quality education by funding schools and school projects.
In so doing, we believe we will help improve their social and economic welfare and
HELP COMMUNITIES GROW
OUR STRATEGIC GOALS
By 2020, The Costa Foundation will have helped fund at least 100 school projects for children in
coffee growing communities providing at least 50,000 places in schools providing a safe quality
education. By 2020 at least 100,000 children will have benefited from a safe, quality education at
schools supported by The Costa Foundation .
OUR DESIRED OUTPUTS
To achieve our vision we will focus on the following desired outcomes:o Every school will have between 45% and 55% girls within two years of opening
o Every school should be safe with school buildings being soundly constructed and well maintained
and with adequate fencing. We will encourage the adoption of appropriate safeguarding policies
and procedures
o We will provide access to a high quality education for all students with exam results at schools
we have funded exceeding district and national averages
o All schools we have funded will operate on a sustainable economic basis within 5 years of
opening
o Every school will offer a well-rounded and holistic education, enabling students to become
responsible and empowered citizens with significantly increased social and economic
opportunities
Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
G Drive/Team Data/Personal/RWF/Docs/2017/C Strategic Paper – 23.02.2017
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PROJECT GOALS
By 2020:o We will have helped fund at least 100 new schools.
o We will trial and measure the impact of funding at least 3 sixth form schools.
o We will fund and measure the impact of programmes to improve gender equality, sexual health
and teacher training in countries in which we fund schools and such programmes are not provided
currently.
o We will improve our system for monitoring delivery partners including the selective use of external
auditors where appropriate.
o We will regularly review our delivery partners and trial alternative delivery partners in some
countries where appropriate.
FUNDRAISING GOALS
o Although the Foundation is separate from and independent of Costa Limited, the Foundation relies
heavily on the support of Costa and the goodwill of its employees to deliver the vast majority of
funds raised for the Foundation. However, wherever possible, we will seek to complement these
funds by diversifying our funding base to external donors in the wider hospitality industry and
beyond.
o We need to raise £6 million in the next 3 years to achieve our 2020 Strategic Goal.
o To date our main source of income has been from Costa, either from Costa employee fundraising
or from donations from products sold in Costa stores.
o We have also benefitted from matching funds from Costa’s parent company, Whitbread plc.
Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
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OUR HISTORY
The Costa Foundation was established in 2012 as a registered charity to build on the project
commenced by its sponsor Costa Limited under the name “The Costa Foundation” . Prior to
incorporation, funds were raised via Charities Trust, an independent registered charity. For ease of
reference, in this document the expression “The Costa Foundation” refers to both The Costa
Foundation charity and the projects undertaken under The Costa Foundation name prior to
incorporation. Between 2008 and 2016 seventy two schools or school projects were completed in
coffee-growing communities in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Uganda, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Peru and Vietnam.
GOVERNANCE
It is only thanks to generous donors that the Foundation is able to deliver its Mission, so we recognise
how important it is that we have the full trust and confidence of all our supporters. Every pound we
receive is valuable and we do all we can to ensure funds are both raised and spent as effectively as
possible. To this end the Trustee board has a wide mix of skills and experience, reflecting all aspects
of the Foundation`s activities and governance responsibilities. In all we do, we seek to deliver the
highest standards, ensuring sound financial and risk management and compliance with all
appropriate company, charity and other legal and good practice guidelines, whilst overseeing the
effective disbursement and evaluation of the Foundation`s funds.
The work of the Foundation is guided by a Theory of Change to help ensure that there is a direct
causal link from the outputs from our activities to our desired outcomes and our overall mission.
We maintain a risk register which is regularly reviewed by the Board with input from Costa Limited,
our main sponsor.
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
PARTNERSHIPS
The Foundation works with charities, selected consultants and the charitable or sustainability arms of
coffee exporters to deliver the projects which it funds. These include PEAS (Promoting Equality in
African Schools), an award-winning charity working in Uganda and Zambia and Plan International UK,
a charity established in 1937 which undertakes projects in over 50 developing countries and which
helps deliver projects for the Foundation in Nicaragua and Honduras. For projects in Colombia we
have partnered with FNC, the worlds largest rural NGO and we work with coffee exporter ECOM’s
sustainability team who have delivered projects for us in Vietnam, Nicaragua and Peru. The
sustainability team of Volcafe, a coffee exporter, have helped deliver projects for us in Vietnam, Peru
and Colombia . The Hanns R Neumann Foundation has delivered projects for us in Guatemala and
Honduras. Finally, in Ethiopia we work with our own Country Director, Mesay Kassaye who delivers all
of our projects on behalf of the Foundation.
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH COSTA
Whilst the Costa Foundation is an independent charity, it is inextricably linked with Costa as it relies
on the goodwill and support of the Costa board, its employees, franchisees and suppliers. The
strength of our mutual relationship is critical to the overall delivery of the Foundation’s strategic
goals. The presence of Costa`s nominated directors on the Foundation board gives the Trustees a
deep understanding of the role the Foundation plays in helping meet the desire of Costa and its
employees to be a force for good and to be recognised as such by all its stakeholders– namely
shareholders, customers and employees.
The Costa Foundation was founded by Costa Limited because of a desire within the company to share
its success by providing support to coffee-growing communities around the world.
Research by Costa`s coffee suppliers in coffee growing communities around the world revealed a
common need and desire for the provision of educational opportunity. Costa`s employee surveys
show that Costa`s employees, from baristas working in store to office based workers, understand the
connection between the coffee beans on which their livelihoods depend and the farmers who grow
the beans. Costa`s employees are very proud of The Foundation`s work and raise substantial amounts
of money to support it.
Each area of Costa stores has an “ Area Champion “ who helps organise, inspire and motivate Costa`s
employees to raise money for the Foundation. Costa and the Foundation fund visits to Foundation
schools every year for a small number of “Costa Foundation Ambassadors“ to see first hand the
impact of fundraising and to help motivate future fundraising.
The employees of Costa`s network of franchise stores also undertake fundraising activities for the
Foundation.
Costa provides trustees for the Foundation Board and volunteers who provide the essential
administrative support needed to run the Foundation on a day to day basis.
Costa also makes donations from the sale of biscuits, cakes, travel mugs and other products in its
stores.
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
RESOURCES
We will improve the organisational strength of the Foundation by investing in appropriate levels of
resource to reduce our reliance on volunteers and a small number of individuals.
We pride ourselves on the efficiency of our operating model ensuring as much money as possible
goes directly to school projects. We will always prioritise spending on our good causes but we will,
when appropriate and cost effective to do so, make modest investment in suitable resources to help
us improve the strength, sustainability and deliverability of the Foundation and its goals.
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
OUR VALUES
Equality
We support equal access to all children irrespective of their gender,
ethnicity, or religion or disability.
Collaborative
We will use strategic partnerships to help us deliver our
vision. Prior to agreeing to a school build or a school project,
we will ensure there is support from the local community and
the local authorities.
Effective
We are cost effective and will maximise the impact of
donations.
Genuine
We are honest and principled. We do what we say we will do.
We strive to improve with each of our projects through
continual self-assessment.
Enduring
In all cases we are seeking to provide facilities that will remain
sustainable and fit for purpose without further aid.
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
MONITORING & EVALUATION
We gather data on the outcomes or impacts of these projects and use the data to guide future
funding decisions. We have implemented a monitoring and evaluation program so that we can assess
our performance against our desired outcomes.
Our evaluation covers:
1. Access to Education
o How many school places are provided and whether attendance records are kept
2. Health and Safety
o Infrastructure Security (fencing and lighting)
o Sufficiency of sanitary facilities
o Sufficiency of water
3. Infrastructure Quality
o Sufficiency of desks and furniture for teachers and children
o Sufficiency of textbooks and learning aids
o All dormitories to have electric lighting
o Recreational facilities
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
MONITORING & EVALUATION CONTINUED
4. Gender Equality
o Number of boys and girls
o Separate male/female sanitary facilities
o Gender equality training provided in school
5. Quality of Education
o Teacher/student ratio
o In-service teacher training
o Comparisons of education attainment with national and regional averages
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)
OUR BUDGET REQUIREMENT
Our Budget Requirement
£000's
2017/18
Budget
2018/19
Strategy
2019/20
Strategy
Total Income
1,900
2,000
2,000
Total Expenditure
1,927
2,000
2,000
-27
0
0
Net income/
(expenditure)
Total at 1
March 2017
Number of completed
projects
Children educated
Total at 1
March 2020
10
8
7
72
97
20,000
20,000
21,000
65,000
126,000
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Registered Charity Number England and Wales (1147400) Scotland (SCO43414) Company Number (08064488)