Rethinking the FirstRand Volunteers
Programme Strategy
F
or the past ten years the FirstRand Volunteers
Programme has been driven by the
passion and commitment of the company’s
employees, with R25-million in both time and money
donated since its inception. It was the winner of the
Mail & Guardian Investing in the Future Awards from
2008 until 2011, and encourages employees from
all four divisions to come together in annual group
drive initiatives to make a difference. These help to
maintain the momentum of the programme and
reach employees who are unable to leave the office
to give of their time. Rally to Read, the FirstRand
Volunteers Programme/Dreamfield Schools Soccer
Day, the Cell C Take a Girl Child to Work Day,
the Annual Group Winter Drive and an annual
housebuilding initiative are all well supported and
good teambuilding opportunities.
However, according to its manager Desiree
Storey, the programme, like many others in
the corporate sector, has not been immune
to challenges of the global economic crisis,
the effect this has had on the South African
economy, and in turn the effects on the business
and the giving capacity of FirstRand.
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“Volunteer participation declined from 25% in
2004/5 to between 15% and 20% in 2011/12, with
the same dedicated individuals and teams always
volunteering,” says Storey. “There were less new
and innovative initiatives being registered and there
was a lack of enthusiasm and energy. This led to
a total rethink of our strategy going forward, with
the starting point being a baseline study conducted
in 2012 with active volunteers and volunteer
champions, middle and senior management, our
non-profit partners and social entrepreneurs who
specialise in the individual giving and corporate
employee volunteering sector.”
Nearly 600 staff members, representing the
majority of the volunteer champions across the
group, responded to a questionnaire about the
volunteers programme. The research findings
indicated that employees have too little time
to volunteer due to workload, family and other
commitments. This was compounded by the fact
that 50% of individual staff members support
their own charities in their own time anyway.
FirstRand’s matched funding process, whereby
employees who donate their time or money
are matched R1 for R1 to donate back to their
chosen beneficiary, was deemed to be too time
consuming and admin intensive.
“What came out very strongly was the need for
FirstRand to create a more enabling environment
for meaningful volunteering to happen. While top
management is often involved and supportive,
when it comes to senior and middle management
commitment it is often found to be lacking. On
the other hand, non-profits are crying out for
the knowledge and skills that corporates can
potentially offer them, such as leadership and
business management skills, budgeting, financial
management, marketing and PR, fundraising and
the like.”
According to Storey, the results of the survey
have assisted to inform the FirstRand Volunteer
Programme strategy. “It is imperative that
corporates move beyond the attitude of ‘painting
classrooms’ to a complete overhaul of their
employee volunteering strategy,” she adds.
At FirstRand a simplified matched funding
application process has been implemented,
making it easier for employees to apply for funding
and participate in the programme. Staff are now
able to accumulate fewer hours to earn money
for their chosen charities, and more support is
given to individuals wanting to volunteer in their
own time for their own chosen beneficiaries. In
order to create a more enabling environment
“We challenged ourselves
to reassess and improve our
volunteering programme
and I would like to challenge
other corporates out there
to do the same.”
for volunteering to happen, the focus is now on
more centrally driven initiatives, happening in the
business units at the offices. This has already led
to a notable improvement in participation numbers
and enthusiasm, leaving the volunteer champions
of the group programme to initiate handovers and
represent the public face of the company.
More leadership visibility and communication
about the programme is being encouraged,
resulting in improved buy-in from senior and
middle management level. The importance of
knowledge sharing with FirstRand’s non-profit
partners has also formed a major focus.
“We challenged ourselves to reassess and
improve our volunteering programme and I would
like to challenge other corporates out there to do
the same,” concludes Storey.
For more information please contact
Desiree Storey e [email protected]
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