Hilti Group’s Post

I'm in Vancouver this week spending time with Thrive supporters and I've got something to share about one of our wonderful funding partners Gore Mutual Insurance and their work to improve community investment in corporate sectors. I had the pleasure of meeting with Gore's Gabriela Polanco Sorto (VP & Head of Purpose & Sustainability), alongside our HUB International Canada partners Abby Thorsell (SVP Human Resources) and Thrive Board Chair (and HUB Canada President), Tina Osen, and it was one of the most meaningful conversations I've ever had on community investment.   As a charity, we use our programs to drive at sustained social change but we’re limited by the some of the community investment systems. With well intentioned, but ever changing investment frameworks, and new evaluations requirements, it can be challenging, if not impossible, on limited resources, to focus on long-range strategic goals that ultimately serve our mandate of empowering young people from under-resourced communities to thrive.    Gaby and her team at Gore are doing remarkable work in corporate community investment for the charitable sector. They're trailblazing; rooting themselves in a deep, honest, and reflective process that identifies real impact and how the corporate sector can help, not hinder, the charitable space. They are innovating, challenging, and sharing with an unapologetic voice around doing better for charitable partners. This movement driven by Gaby is the best I've seen in my 20 years in the charitable sector.    I encourage readers of this post, to follow along on the Gore journey - they are doing incredible things, and I have no doubt they will very real impact in corporate community investment.  Thrive Youth Development Canada (Formerly DAREarts)   #Refreshing #authentic #experienced #knowledgeable #communityinvestment

100,000 skilled “climate volunteers” are needed to support the UK’s environmental charities. Pilotlight recently conducted a survey to understand the support needs of organisations working on climate and environmental sustainability and some of our findings revealed that: one in two smaller charities working in the environment sector have no operational plan for the year. And two out of three environmental charities are actively looking for professional support from skilled volunteers. – but most do not know where to turn to for this. This is the driving force behind our goal to build a new capacity building programme. We amplify the impact charities, business and individuals can bring by facilitating pro bono skilled volunteering. Employees use their expertise to help charities access the specialist skills they need but do not necessarily have the budget for. If you run a business and are interested in a new practical pro bono programme of support we are launching find out more about our offer to business here: https://buff.ly/3Q7FuxB Read our new report and find out how you can help today: https://buff.ly/3Q7ptrv #100kClimateVolunteers

❓ Did you know that 100,000 climate volunteers are needed to support the UK's environmental charities? 📁 A recent report from Pilotlight shows that there is a huge demand for professional pro-bono support within the climate nonprofit space. 💻 At Lightful we believe that those doing the greatest good, deserve the best support - in terms of people and digital tools. Vinay Nair, Lightful's Co-Founder & CEO comments that “we have been seeing a sharp increase in demand for the digital tools and training we provide not only across the U.K. but also around the world. It is vital we help organisations build a solid digital strategy that forms the foundation for authentic storytelling, which leads to increased campaigning and fundraising results.” Check out the full report from Pilotlight and find out how you can support climate organisations in the UK! 🌍

We can speed up climate action by borrowing the skills that environmental charities say they desperately need - and borrowing them from businesses, big and small. If you're a business who'd like to support the UK's climate charities and offer your colleagues an opportunity to deepen their skills at the same time, get involved here: https://buff.ly/3Q7FuxB Pilotlight Perhaps one for Undaunted: Tackling climate change with innovation, The Natural History Consortium and many others

I think this is an interesting campaign. I welcome the provocation around businesses - and the charities and social enterprises that offer them volunteering opportunities - to think beyond the "come along and plant trees for a day" climate actions. I would agree that there is a real opportunity for more meaningful collaboration - which could include people using their expertise to offer pro-bono support that is of greater value to the organisation they choose to volunteer with. There is also part of me that feels a little bit sceptical. It will undoubtedly be the case that plenty of charities and social enterprises lack some of the things that we associate with being "business-like" - things identified in the report like KPI's, an up-to-date business plan, or a decent training budget. And there is definitely a case for saying that one way to fill some of those gaps is to access pro-bono support from skilled volunteers. There'll be great examples of this happening - I can think of a few from my own 25 years in social business. But I think it's important not to lose sight of the fact that no amount of pro-bono support, however skilled, can provide cover for inadequate budgets or spiralling demand for services. Yes, the climate emergency needs more people to volunteer their time. *And* - more than that - it needs those organisations that do so much good to be properly resourced. I am sure, of course, that Pilotlight recognise that too. I just think we need to remain conscious of the fact that many organisations lack some of the things identified in the report because they are under-resourced, not because they necessarily lack enough volunteers who can offer them "business skills". #volunteering #climateemergency #climateaction

Do volunteers have a role in climate action? Our research this week suggested a need for 100,000 skilled volunteers to support environmental charities and social enterprises. One question sent to me is whether all this work should be paid for, which is a good question, at least in theory. If charities had the money to do all they needed, say from philanthropy, they wouldn’t necessarily look for volunteers. And equally, if the problems didn’t exist, charities wouldn’t be needed and wouldn’t need to raise money. If we had magic wands, these would be resolved and just because we don’t doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t press the case for them to happen. One of the prompts for our work was research by the funder Garfield Weston Foundation, which showed how many environmental charities were not getting the funding they needed. Having said all that, Pilotlight has supported 1,000 charities working on poverty over time, using our social enterprise business model, and we see that skilled volunteering can be of huge help in being more effective and reaching more people. It doesn’t always work but the overall impact data and the testimonies are outstanding. And here is one key truth, which is that more money alone doesn’t make an organisation more impactful. Of course, if they can generate more income, then charities have more scope to pay for the support services that they require. Larger charities are better able to employ people with specialist skills, whereas it is an old adage that leaders of smaller charities have to be Jack or Jill ‘of all trades’, turning their attention to managing staff and volunteers, running operations, analysing data, building relationships and fundraising. The acute lack of training for leaders at the smaller end of the charity sector is  therefore of particular concern, because it is extremely hard to be good at all these different tasks. Even so, money only runs so far, and it is a strength of the charity model that  volunteers can bring expertise that a charity may not be able to pay for. This i think is where skilled volunteering has a valued role to play – where people give their time and expertise to the public good rather than, or in addition to their money. The challenge of sustainability can’t be solved through individual action, whether paid or unpaid. But if we are to see systems change, we will require concerted action at all levels, individual, collective, national and multilateral. Where do you think voluntary action fits in all this?

LMG (lmgiq.com) is very happy to release our 2023 Social Report! We began our journey in 2023 by committing over 1000 corporate volunteering hours towards various ecological and social charities, including HandsOn London and Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust, in line with our social targets as set out in the report.  It represents a crucial milestone in developing a more supportive and ethical culture that prioritises our staff and the community and embeds our goals into the core of our company. “We understand that thriving businesses and thriving communities are interdependent. When the community prospers, so do we.” – Kathryn Rowe    Download our 2023 Social Report to learn more about our ESG journey: #ESG #Sustainability #Community #Development #social #government #environmental #teamlmg #lmgiq #corporatevolunteering #charity 

We launch our report A Call for Climate Volunteers this morning. My thanks to those who have fed in to my work on this over time, including Suzanne Wise Parisa Wright Jade Brudenell Penny Radway Trewin Restorick Carol Mack Nick Robins Mark Kenber Sally Bailey Peter Moss and with some tears here, the late John Davis, who passed away this Summer aged 99 (author of Greening Business, friend of Fritz Schumacher, co-founder of New Economics Foundation - a life well lived) It has been a long time in the preparation, involving research with 298 charities and social enterprises active on the climate emergency. Some key numbers are: - around 16,000 charities and social enterprises are working on climate and sustainability in the UK - 63% are actively looking for support from volunteers with professional expertise - We estimate that 100,000 skilled climate volunteers are needed to fulfil the sector's potential to spur, spread and scale positive action for sustainability - For employers, giving staff an opportunity to do something is one way to recognise the rise of eco-anxiety that now affects one in six employees (and one in three for 18-34 year olds). The core idea is a bold one - that we can speed up climate action by filling a gap that exists for capacity building for environmental charities and social enterprises. The faster and wider we can do this, the more dramatic impact we can have. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

🌍 This Earth Day, let's remember that estate planning isn't just about securing our legacy for future generations—it's also about protecting the world we leave behind. By incorporating sustainable practices into our estate plans, like choosing eco-friendly burial options or setting up charitable trusts to support environmental causes, we can ensure that our impact on the planet is a positive one. Let's make Earth Day every day by planning for a greener future together! #EarthDay #EstatePlanning #Sustainability 🌱🏡