Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 15

than just handing over some
cash (which might seem a far
easier option)?
We believe our Change the World
is a groundbreaking programme
that takes corporate philanthropy
in a new direction. Over the past
10 years the Vodacom Foundation,
has helped hundreds of charitable
organisations with funding. The
ability of volunteerism to change
the world, one step at a time,
is what prompted the Vodacom
Foundation to extend its approach
to assisting NPOs and charities.
In addition to donating money to
deserving causes, we believed we
could do so much more to help by
placing skilled volunteers with organisations in need.
Do you think big businesses
like yours have an obligation to
give something back with CSR
programmes like this? Is there a
real desire to be ‘good corporate
citizens’ or is CSR simply a ‘cost
of doing business’ that you have

to do and be seen to be doing?
Through the Vodacom Foundation,
Vodacom has been giving back to
society since 1999. It is imperative
that we give back to the communities in which we operate. With the
Change the World programme we
are looking at attaining the most
impact and changing as many
lives as we can with the funds at
our disposal.
What do you believe will be the
benefits of this programme, to
your company, to the people involved and to the organisations
you are supporting?
At the outset of the initiative, it
was determined that the sharing
of skills and experience is far more
effective to NPO’s than traditional
cash donations. By providing funding to skilled people with a passion
to work for charity, the Change the
World programme allows much
needed expertise and fresh perspectives to enter the NPO sec-

torand taps into their energy and
ambition to deliver more to the
charity than money alone can give.
(Our emphasis, ed!) These volunteers are able to develop and put
in place sustainable solutions for
the NPOs – they are developing
processes and training staff at the
organisations to carry on their work
long after their contracts have ended. We hope to make a real and
sustainable contribution to South
African communities through the
Change the World programme.
What would you say to companies who are looking for the
best way to maximise their CSR
spend and who might be considering a similar programme?
As a country we face many challenges and skills shortages are
one of them. South Africans are,
however, always willing to help and
give back. It would be to everyone’s benefit if more of these programmes could be implemented.

Smile Foundation

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CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW