The vocabulary in vogue to describe corporate activities aimed at contributing to the society in general, or to specific community groups, evolves all the time. It can even baffle the mind. While some companies still use the term corporate social investment (CSI), others prefer corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community engagement (CE), among others.

In practice, these often refer to the same thing, as there is a very fine line between any one of them and the others.

Some companies do not make any difference between the terms; they simply use them interchangeably. Others use specific terms and phrases to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack, even alleging that what they do is more genuinely driven by philanthropy than is the case with what is being done by others.

But all these terms are increasingly seen to be passé by those who prefer a relatively new entrant into the fray i.e. inclusive business (IB), as it is seen to be what all of this is meant to be about: attempts by companies to include employees and other relevant external stakeholders in all, or most, decision-making processes and their business value chain, thus giving them a level of profit or benefit sharing.

Dr Janice Golding, an independent consultant specialising in assisting companies with methods to combat poverty, is very specific in the application of these terms and what each of them means. “Corporate social responsibility just refers to the act of ‘gift-giving’ by companies, often with no expectation of anything in return. It is driven by philanthropy and the desire to make a difference,” she explains.

“But we must not fool ourselves; many companies also do CSR in order to comply with legislation governing their specific economic sector and to be politically correct.”

On the whole, according to Dr Golding, companies involved with CSR will simply be content with having their logo attached or displayed in appropriate areas linked to their involvement, merely as a token of acknowledgment for their contribution. They would not push for any publicity to be generated from their contribution, or to make money out of it.

What companies do

An example of this is when TOTALGAZ, after having been made aware of the insufficient and ageing trauma unit at Somerset Hospital just outside the Cape Town central business district, put some money together to help the hospital purchase a new trauma unit for the facility.

Chris Okonmah, managing director of TOTALGAZ South Africa, did not wish to be interviewed to discuss this specific donation, insisting it was not done to generate publicity for the company.

The display of a TOTALGAZ sign at the hospital is merely normal token acknowledgment.

“There are other projects to which – as a company – we have donated money all over the country,” he explains. “But we do it because we feel strongly that it is the right thing to constantly contribute to community-building initiatives within our company catchment areas i.e. within a radius of 30 kilometres around where our company has operational presence.

“We contribute to projects in skills development, HIV/Aids programmes, school development and a series of other ‘once-off’ donations.

“For brand-building and marketing purposes, we have a separate marketing department.

“We try not to confuse the two areas of responsibility,” Okonmah adds.

TOTALGAZ prefers to use the term “stakeholder relationship management” for what it does in this area of community involvement.

The key word is “sustainability”, he insists.

For Dr Golding, CSI, as opposed to CSR, is an investment – as implied in the name – and it is done with the aim of getting something in return. “In this case, companies will expect a return in one form or another, usually positive publicity and public acknowledgment.

“In some cases, there might be expectation for some form of future business to accrue out of the investment. An example of this would be where a company gives samples of its own products e.g. computers to a needy school, hoping that future computer purchases would be sourced from it,” she explains.

“At Chevron, publicity is not our primary motivator for the CSI work that we do,” insists Miranda Anthony, community engagement manager at Chevron South Africa. “In fact, I am thrilled to work for a company where there is never a question of how much publicity was generated from our community engagement project, but what impact it has had in the community – even at reporting time.”

Chevron places a great emphasis on stakeholder engagement in its approach to CSI because to the company, that is what the whole thing should be about.

Many companies, explains Anthony, will go into communities with a mindset that is already made up about what they are going to give. Often, these positions are non-negotiable.

Chevron, on the other hand, will engage communities with an open mind, listen to and assess their needs, then make a determination as to whether the company would be able to satisfy those expectations.

“Of course, there are initiatives that we contribute less to because they are not in any of our strategic focus areas for CSI e.g. arts and culture, yet again there are areas such as HIV/Aids and education and training that we have given a lot to,” says Anthony.

“We also do not insist on being a sole sponsor for anything. We seek and encourage partnerships with other like-minded companies to contribute together into projects, thus maximising the benefits for recipients.”

The newest addition to the list of Chevron’s CSI beneficiaries is the Cape Town-based Amy Biehl Foundation, named after the young American student murdered in Gugulethu during political unrest in the early 1990s.

The Foundation supports a number of after-school programmes throughout the Cape Flats, ensuring more than 1 800 school children are kept busy with constructive afternoon activities, including homework support, and in the process keeping them out of mischief.

The Amy Biehl Foundation receives support from other organisations as well.

Chevron encourages its own employees to become personally involved in social initiatives. Through the company’s Employee Volunteer and Engagement Programme, staff members can spend time working at a local orphanage, children’s hospice and similar institutions.

The Vineyard Hotel (Newlands, Cape Town), The Townhouse Hotel (Cape Town central) and the d’Ouwe Werf Hotel (Stellenbosch) belong to the same family-owned group and contribute to a stable of charity organisations on the Cape Flats.

The group introduced a guest participation programme that gives hotel guests an option to have a standard levy of R5 added to their daily rate. For each R5 contributed by a guest, the hotel group contributes another R5 to match it.

The proceeds go to the Our Kids of the Cape Fund, whose long-term beneficiaries are the Baphumelele Children’s Home (Khayelitsha); Woodside Special Care Centre (Rondebosch) – a private residential home for intellectually challenged and physically disabled children and young adults; JL Zwane Centre (Gugulethu), which provides a form of after-school facility and services, including assistance with homework for kids from areas affected; the Stellenbosch Hospice, providing holistic palliative and chronic healthcare to residents of the surrounding areas; and the Aquarius School Feeding Scheme (Retreat), which provides soup and bread to more than 8 500 poor school children in this suburb and surrounding areas.

In addition, the hotel group allows its employees a day off per month to do CSI-related work. Each employee chooses the organisation to which they will contribute time and labour in order to make a difference.

“None of our CSI projects are used for publicity,” says Tana Breytenbach, group development manager at the Vineyard Hotel.

“The only time we publicise them is when we place the special coupons in each hotel room, to educate our guests about the existing opportunity to contribute to deserving causes.

“Donations are purely voluntary, but we’re grateful for the fact that most of our guests accept to participate,” she adds.

“However, it seems easier for tourists – especially from overseas – than it is for business travellers to contribute,” she adds. “The reason is probably because business travellers already have their rooms paid for by their companies and that they do not always have the flexibility to add to the bill.

“Significantly growing the percentage of contributions from business travellers remains one of our biggest challenges,” says Breytenbach.

Some of the young people who grew up in the projects supported by the Group have become employees within the company, after undergoing its various skills development initiatives.

“We have a few waiters and a chief banqueting officer we employed after they underwent our training programme, having grown up in some of the causes that we support. Today, they can earn a decent living and contribute to the well-being of their own families,” says Breytenbach, beaming
with pride.

Lesedi Nuclear Services, a South African subsidiary of French multinational, Areva, donates financial assistance to Wilge Special Day Care Centre in Atlantis, just outside Cape Town. Wilge provides specialised care and training for intellectually, physically and mentally disabled children from Atlantis and the surrounding areas.

It requires funds for extremely expensive educational and therapeutic equipment, as well as monthly running costs for specialised transportation for the children, in addition to salaries for therapists, caregivers and nurses.

Lesedi provides funds to assist in all these areas and has, since beginning its involvement with Wilge back in 2005, encouraged its employees to give time to the Centre.

Furthermore, the company’s engineers have identified a number of cost-saving initiatives, such as water and electricity mechanisms, and added value to income-generating projects for the Centre.

“We consider our corporate social investment in the area of Atlantis as an important pillar in our company’s overall transformation strategy because it plays a key role in enhancing Lesedi’s company reputation as a truly South African firm,” says Shane Pereira, Lesedi’s marketing and communications manager.

“During the years of our involvement, we’ve seen growth and positive improvement in the facilities of the Centre.”

Asked whether Lesedi derives any publicity out of its social investment in Wilge, Pereira is adamant that getting publicity is not the primary objective of its involvement.

Like the other companies interviewed for this article, Pereira explains that for Lesedi Nuclear Services, it makes sense to contribute to the communities in which the company has operational presence.

“That is where we get many of our labourers from, especially artisans like welders and electricians, who really need the skills development and job opportunities our company provides,” he says.

But who really benefits?

It appears clear from scenarios documented above that CSI or CSR, if done properly, can bring much-needed improvement in the lives of intended beneficiaries.

Many young people have come out of very indigent communities and family backgrounds to benefit directly from carefully structured programmes, grown through them and became productive members of their communities.

While few companies will admit to getting material gain from their involvement in corporate social investment, or intending to do so, it is clear these programmes satisfy aspects of the existing broad-based black economic empowerment legislation, and obtain points that allow them to benefit from government business.

In the end, everyone seems to win:

On the one hand, poor communities get assistance in monetary form or in kind to improve their lot.

On the other hand, companies are afforded the opportunity to contribute to society in ways other than mere job provision to their employees.

“All this is good,” says Dr Golding. “But to properly qualify as inclusive business, stakeholders should also be involved at various levels of decision-making.

“In the face of increasingly informed and militant consumers, civil society groups, and the need to do more to care for our environment, companies can no longer simply make a profit and walk away,” she concludes.

Solly Moeng