Justifying investment – and building long-term relationships offers more than just ROI

When every dollar is tight, justifying investing money in a Not For Profit is a role which many CEOs face on a regular basis. It’s incumbent on those who drive the long-term strategies of NFPs to demonstrate to organisations considering injecting funds into a particular cause that the ROI will be worth every cent.

Some of WA’s leading NFPs discuss the importance of delivering more than the ‘feel good factor’ after a corporate organisation jumps on board – with hard data and statistics now the order of the day to show a return on investment at every step of the way.

A balancing act under scrutiny

Increasingly, corporates are having to balance the financial and social outcomes expected by shareholders.  While financial outcomes are easy to quantify, the challenge is to be able to understand and measure the social impact of corporate partnerships.

Special Olympics Australia has survived year after year by obtaining small grants and funds through partnerships. However, this is neither sustainable nor efficient in terms of evidencing the impact of investment to corporate partners, according to Tanya Brown, Board Director, Special Olympics Australia.

In proposing to host the largest humanitarian event in the world, Special Olympics Australia worked with consulting firm, Deloitte, and research partner, Telethon Kids Institute, to develop a Legacy Framework that clearly articulates its vision for hosting the World Games in Australia and the type of changes that it can help bring about. 

“The Framework links to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and can help corporate partners meet their ESG targets by operationalising them through research and data to deliver tangible social impact metrics,” says Mrs Brown.

“The Legacy Framework has been built around the pillars of Health, Education, Employment and Justice (Equity) at the four levels of Society (Views), Individual (Lives), Systemic (Nation) and global (World).

“We will be asking our corporate partners to take a long term, broad view to help achieve systemic change as well as to achieve change within their own organisations.”

Special Olympics uses sport to drive inclusion and create opportunities where there are just not enough; this improves wellbeing, enriches the community and amplifies the humanitarian cause”.

“As an example, one of the benefits of supporting the World Games could be the cultural reform achieved through working inside their organisation to drive diversity and inclusion.  Our Athlete Leaders are skilled to talk to people about what diversity – in all its forms – looks like and how they can help drive the inclusion revolution through changes in perception, policy and practice.

“What value would you place on that?” says Mrs Brown.

More than money – volunteers worth their weight in gold

While the financial support corporate organisations provide to St Bart's is essential to its success in turning people’s lives around, it is not the only opportunity available for those seeking a partnership with the NFP. Fundraising and events, employee volunteering, workplace giving, and skilled pro-bono or in-kind support are others, to name a few.

Complementing St Bart’s passionate workforce is its community of corporate volunteers who generously donate their time to support St Bart’s in its mission to stand by the side of some of Perth’s most vulnerable people. Ranging from a few hours to full day activities and everything in between, the support corporate organisations can add to the people in St Bart’s services through volunteering is invaluable.

Hays corporate volunteering day at St Bart’s

“From cooking BBQs and carrying out maintenance, landscaping and painting services, to providing budgeting assistance or sorting and delivering Christmas hampers, there are a number of volunteer activities available at St Bart’s,”  CEO of St Bart’s, Samantha Drury says.

Corporate volunteer days allow businesses to engage with consumers in their safe space, to gain a better understanding of the many causes of homelessness and work towards their social responsibility goals.

Meanwhile, at a global level, Special Olympics has benefited from the establishment of the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR).  Run by police and corrections officers, sheriffs support staff, police volunteers and other law enforcement professionals from around the world, the LETR has raised both money and awareness for Special Olympics.

“Participants in the LETR help spread the word about the benefits of Special Olympics and how the program helps provide opportunities for athletes.  Importantly, the courage of athletes is celebrated with the focus on their achievements, not on their disability”, said Mrs Brown.

At a national level, Special Olympics Australia has enjoyed a multi-year Principal Partnership with the National Australia Bank, who were also the Presenting Partner for the National Games recently held in Launceston, Tasmania.

“Our partnership with NAB is an example of a corporate taking a long-term view of the benefits of working with an organisation like Special Olympics.  They saw how weekly grassroots sports training across a network of 46 clubs involving 3,500 athletes annually could have a significant societal impact”, said Mrs Brown.

“NAB also helped Special Olympics to grow its volunteer workforce to 1,400 registered volunteers, equipping them with online training and other resources required to support athletes with intellectual disability across our club network.”

Special Olympics Australia’s partnership with NAB is coming to an end and the search for new partners has commenced.

Bridging the Gap

Non-government organisations (NGOs) have historically stepped in to ensure there is a social safety net in place for those most vulnerable. While Government plays a more active role now in either providing or funding social services, NGOs continue to play a key role in filling the gaps, and partnerships between NGOs and corporations are critical in achieving this.

During COVID-19, St Pat’s proved how NGOs can improve outcomes for businesses in our community.

“Our Doorstep Dinners program generated a $500,000 economic stimulus for restaurants and their suppliers in Perth and Fremantle when lockdowns and restrictions were impacting their income,” says CEO Michael Piu.

“This allowed them to retain employees while helping St Pat’s support highly vulnerable people in our community with nutritious food and connections with service providers.”

MyHomeProject North Fremantle

Meanwhile, St Pat’s first “My Home” project, to build 18 homes for women over 55 exiting homelessness, partnered with local and state governments, philanthropists, community groups and businesses, including construction firms Offsite Construction and Highbury Homes. Not only does the project tap into underutilised land and provide a community-led solution to homelessness, it also generates employment, connects businesses to the community and highlights innovative building practises.

“By exercising their corporate social responsibility, our project partners can reap both fiscal and ethical returns for their investments.”