Integrating CSR into the business model the way to go

With corporate bottom lines wreaking havoc on CSR budgets due to the worldwide financial crisis, corporate foundations are looking at projects that integrate helping disadvantaged sectors with the business models of their respective mother companies.

“With CSR budget likely to be slashed, corporate foundations need to be creative in their management of resources. One way to go about this is to integrate CSR into the principal company’s business model, like what Jollibee, Figaro, Meralco, UCPB and Splash foundations have been doing,” said Marilou G. Erni, executive director of Petron Foundation and chairperson of the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) during the league’s recent general assembly.

The LCF is a membership organization composed of over 70 operating and grant-making corporate foundations and corporations practicing corporate social responsibility (CSR). LCF is an acknowledged enabler of practice-based, holistic CSR in the Philippines and the Asian region.

It counts as its members the CSR arms of some of the country’s biggest corporations. Some of these foundations have been implementing projects that link to their respective companies’ business chain, even before the global financial crisis hit.

For example, Jollibee Foundation, aside from its usual involvement in education and community development, also addresses business challenges faced by Jollibee Food Corp. (JFC).

As Jollibee Food Corp’s CSR arm, Jollibee Foundation helps improve the access of deserving high school students to post-secondary education, training and employment in courses related to JFC businesses, leading to eventual employment at JFC and other establishments.

It also assists small farmers develop their capability to grow and become potential suppliers of some raw material requirements of JFC and others. It also helps develop viable small enterprises, with the end view of increasing their potential to eventually become JFC franchisees.

Splash Foundation, the CSR arm of the giant Filipino-owned beauty and wellness company Splash, provides comprehensive livelihood courses and skills trainings on cosmetology via its “Ganda Mo, Hanapbuhay Ko” program.

Team Energy Foundation of power producer Team Energy (formerly Mirant), while heavily involved in environment, education and bridging societal divides in partnership with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), is also doing something close to its core business – providing electricity to far-flung areas in the country – via its Project BEACON (Barangay Electrification Assistance for Countryside Development).

Figaro Foundation is into strengthening the local coffee industry by assisting the communities and sectors that derive sustenance from coffee farming.

Its “Wild About Organic” campaign provides selected communities training on organic farming methods, is into international certification of Philippine Organic Coffee for international competitiveness, and assisting indigenous people’s communities improve their coffee farms and gain access to the market. Figaro Foundation also conducts coffee planting and harvest tours for partners to fully promote the local coffee industry.

Meralco Millennium Foundation “shares the light” with the communities served by its principal – Meralco – via electrification of Philippine public schools and depressed communities.

Aside from its long-running scholarship for children of coconut farmers, the UCPB-CIIF (United Coconut Planters Back-Coconut Industry Investment Fund) implements programs aimed to uplift the quality of life of small coconut farmers and enhance the development of the coconut industry as a whole.

Its scholars who have completed the course on Integrated Farming Technology from Don Bosco Training Centers have started training small coconut farmers on organic farming techniques. It has established coconut nurseries and thousands of seedlings are sold at cost, providing coconut farmers with quality seedlings that are cheaper than market price.

The foundation is currently implementing the CIIF Coconut Development Plan which is a holistic approach involving coconut farmer cooperatives – from coconut tree planting, farm management, to intercropping. The program’s initial phase is setting up of coconut nurseries to provide coconut farmers with good quality planting materials to replace old coconut trees.

The LCF encourages its other members to implement like-minded programs to mitigate costs, encourage its principal companies to continue funding CSR since the projects will form part of the business strategy, and for the CSR community to continue serving the underprivileged sectors, particularly those in the countryside.

The League is also seriously considering projects that help communities become viable micro-enterprises. Indeed, in these times of crisis and difficulties, CSR efforts are needed more than ever.