Inside ASI-AP

Further to the recent posts (here and here) on my ABC radio piece on the Perspective program, I realised the audio file has been removed from the ABC website. I have attached a copy here PERSPECTIVE 2007-05-04 Paul Ramsbottom.mp3.

I have also pasted in a copy of the transcript below in case that gets removed too at some stage in the future.

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Transcript

There's a lot of talk about the need for corporate Australia to pick up the slack and give more support to our not for profit sector.

From the Prime Minister John Howard down we've been told to take our share of corporate social responsibility; share our resources, lend our skills and get our workers up from behind their desks and into the volunteer workforces of charities across the country. Oh; and keep the profits rolling in.

Well as the managing director of a small corner of corporate Australia I've been listening. That's why we established the Advanced Solutions International SMART Company Scholarship Fund. I didn't feel pressure to do it but I could see the need. It was an easy decision and has proven intriguing.

We fund professional development opportunities: conferences, workshops, training courses for individuals in the non profit sector. It's a sector we know well. ASI supplies specialised software to more than 440 professional associations, charities and fundraisers.

We're not talking about megabucks here. We funded $21,000 worth of grants in our first year divided into 24 grants. Some individuals may receive as humble an amount as $300. If you think that that is the sort of figure NFPs should be able to find for themselves I've got some news for you - many can't.

$300 can be the difference between attending or not attending a Fundraising Institute of Australia course in gaining bequests. That attendance may be the difference between gaining or not gaining hundreds of thousands of bequest dollars over five years for a children's charity or cancer research unit.

It reminds me of what Benjamin Franklin said:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

So why did we become a supplier of nails instead of horses or riders?
Blame Paul Keating's phrase "the clever country". I believe in education.

Sure we could have sponsored a mobile soup kitchen and slapped our logo on the side. We'd have good pictures for our website and a good feeling in our hearts when we thought about it. It's not that corporate sponsored soup vans aren't great - especially if you're the one getting the soup - but we wanted to make a longer term impact. It was a fish-versus- teaching-a-man-to-fish debate. I think that's the difference between corporate charity and corporate philanthropy.

We want to teach people to build the organisations that support thousands of metaphorical soup kitchens.

I confess my motivations weren't entirely altruistic. I waited by the mail tray waiting for the thankyou letters to arrive. Happily they did.

This came from an iconic medical service:

"I needed to fund my own education as I was new to the role. Your funding meant that two employees were able to attend our course instead of one."

This from an employee of a major disability service in Queensland.

"The course gave me time to consider my commitment to the NFP sector. My personal enthusiasm has been renewed." There are many more.

Internally the results are mixed:

As an employer of around 40 people it's been an interesting experience. We share the task of judging the applications. It gives my staff insight into what people have done with their lives and what they want to do with their future. Some, I hope, find a little inspiration in the stack of wishful thinking and good intentions

Our staff are welcome to spend half a work day a month volunteering. From a total of about 180 days a year we volunteered less than 10 last year. I'll be setting my mind to that. I've been reading about carbon neutrality too...but that's another story.

A word to my fellow CEOs and MDs: you don't have to create a whole new corporate culture to be philanthropic. Nor will becoming philanthropic turn you into a de facto department of human services.

The results have exceeded my expectations. I thought people would presume that there's a catch. Not so. We just had requests for $32,000 of funding in our latest round so word clearly is spreading that there are nails to be had. The battle may be won yet.