south africa: King report sheds new light on social investment

"The considerable social investment of the South African business sector into development needs restrategising in the light of the King report," says Collen du Toit,
Director of the South African Grantmakers Association (Saga).
An important new study into South Africa's non-profit sector investment in the development activities of non-profit organizations is considerable-3, 5 billion annually.
Of concern, she says, is the fact that there is no comprehensive understanding of the impact of that investment. In the interest of more effective development, the recommendations of the King report may help to find ways of strategically targeting and assessing the impact of corporate social investment.
"From Saga's perspective, we work from a developmental value base, with strong links into the non-governmental sector.
"These organizations are often implementers of projects funded through corporate social investment.
"Saga's view of corporate social investment is not about charity or welfare.
"We advocate for more engaged and strategic approaches with the intention of both improved development impact and accompanying benefits to the business sector," she says.
Du Toit explains that in her view the King recommendations on intergraded sustainability reporting present both a challenge and an opportunity to the corporate social investment initiative of the business sector.
King suggests an inclusive approach to social responsibility activities. In her opinion there are still far too many South African corporates that see compliance with the sustainability recommendations of King as a constraint, an unnecessary extra at the expense of enterprise performance.
Corporate engagement in social responsibility should, in fact, be of mutual benefit, she says.
"This is as true in the are of corporate social investment as in any other area of social responsibility. Really effective corporate social investment cannot, and should not, occur without reference to both public policy and real societal engagement.
"At Saga we recommend cross-sectoral partnerships as a way of ensuring that the ultimate beneficiaries of development are included in planning and implementation.
"This approach inevitably improves the relevance and impact of donor-funded development projects," explains Du Toit.
Many of Saga's members are now working in co-operation with their beneficiaries and with non-profit and governmental partners.
Corporate social investment managers are approaching Saga to join them in strategic discussions with senior executives in an effort to integrate planning for corporate social investment within the new business frameworks suggested by King.
Mutually beneficial corporate social investment activities require a clear management. She points out that there is a unique opportunity now for South African corporates to use the recommendations of the King report to ensure integration of the King report to ensure integration of business and social investment objective.
"Corporate social investment activities require clear strategy and effective management."

Source: Sunday Independent, 18 August 2002 (editorial: Loraine Tulleken)