As businesses from the west flock to Asia, and with Asian businesses placing more importance on social responsibility,  we are seeing a surge in employee volunteering.  Seven of the world’s ten most populous cities are in Asia.  In fact, there are more than 160 cities in China with a population of a million or more.  While the middle class and purchasing power is rising throughout much of Asia, there is still wide spread poverty.  The needs are great, so are the opportunities.

At the Points of Light Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington DC last week, I moderated a panel titled the same as this blog.  It was a dynamic panel with representatives from India, Singapore, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Australia.  One of the participants had just relocated from Hong Kong and has much experience in China.  The panel was divided into two groups.  Companies operating in Asia and NGOs operating in Asia Pacific.  While an hour and a half dialog is not even a deep dive on any one country, we attempted to do so for the region.  A region where the languages, cultures, religions, economies, government structures, infrastructure, geography, access to education and health care are varied.  Yet we were able to give participants a view of some successful partnerships and programs that are currently in operation with an eye towards the similarities and differences throughout the region.

All three companies presenting were global, with Bank of America headquartered in the US, NEC in Japan,  and Samsung in Korea.  Three very different companies in three very different countries.  All three operate throughout the region.  The NGO’s were HandsOn Manila, iVolunteer (India) and Volunteering Australia.  While I wish we had the transcript to give the nuances that each spoke about, there was a common theme of the volunteer programs and initiatives being relevant for the company, its location and global/local strategies/goals.  For the NGOs, that it provides needed assistance of time, both skilled and helping hands,  plus financial resources and in-kind support.  It must be a win-win with both the business and NGO understanding each other’s needs and desired outcomes prior to the engagement.

Formalized volunteering is a newer concept in Asia than that of the US and Europe.  The NGO’s present were volunteer leaders,  working with other NGO’s on the value of utilizing volunteers and then how to manage them.  Challenges shared include typically longer work days with less discretionary time, locals versus expats, foreign companies tend to operate in their “home” language and the often difference between what the company wants to do and the true need.  Luckily, both NGOs and companies are becoming both more sophisticated and effective with their employee engagement programs creating better outcomes.  And as one would imagine, Australia’s culture is much more aligned with the US in regards to volunteering than most of the rest of Asia Pacific.

As the world becomes smaller, corporate social responsibility becomes increasingly integrated within businesses.  And as needs and those who are responsible for addressing them change, businesses and NGOs are collaborating on how to best harness the skills and time of employees towards solutions to some of our most pressing issues… in Asia and globally!  https://pol.expoplanner.com/index.cfmdo=expomap.sess&event_id=15&session_id=3583

Business professionals and not-for-profit directors often have very different perspectives. There are inequities in power and differences in resources. Building a good working relationship is critical to success. Differences can be worked through by developing strategies, including setting clear expectations and goals, based on achieving mutually beneficial results.  This is the description of, Partnerships That Work, the panel I moderated at the Business4Better conference last week.  To illustrate the best attributes of partnerships, I choose two that demonstrate the positive impact to both parties when there are shared goals and defined outcomes;  Disneyland Resort and CHOC Children’s,  The Boeing Company and Inside The Outdoors.

Inside The Outdoors is a unique entity as it is part of the Orange County Department of Education and is not taxpayer supported as they raise their own funds. They are an environmental education organization where they “make the world your classroom.”  This partnership with Boeing has been in existence for more than five years and is an excellent example of skills-based volunteering.  Volunteers from Boeing worked with students to create a new shade structure at the Outdoor Science School.  These volunteers were engineers and paired with groups of students who competed against each other for the winning design.  Each team designed a structure, determined what materials and skills were needed, developed a budget and then pitched their idea.  The winning team’s design was then actually built at a later date by Boeing volunteers.  This effort demonstrated to the student’s real world applications, to the disciplines they learn, such as science and engineering.  It now provides the school with a new shade facility replacing one that
had burned.

The Disneyland Resort partnership with CHOC Children’s (Children’s Hospital of Orange County) spans 50 years.  Walt Disney was part of the committee of Orange County leaders who worked for the creation of the hospital.  This partnership is based on alignment, the complimentary audience of children and families.  It truly is a two way partnership with both organizations receiving value.  Components include cash contributions, in-kind support, product donations, board participation, Disney VoluntEARS and character visits.  The new CHOC building’s lobby was designed with the help of Disney Imagineers and has an under the sea theme including elements from “Finding Nemo.”  The big annual CHOC Walk in the Park actually takes walkers through Disneyland Resort.

These two examples showcased are from large global companies, yet they are local Orange County based divisions paired with local organizations.  While every company doesn’t have Mickey Mouse, most of the examples can be translated into smaller enterprises.  It’s about using the core competencies of the company, the skills of its employees and matching with organizations where a partnership is organic and mutually beneficial.  This was the purpose of the Business4Better conference, helping a community partnership movement that fosters strategies, practical guidance and inspiration for businesses that want “to do better.”  What particularly intrigued me about this conference is their focus on midsized companies.  This is a category that has long been doing good, but without the resources afforded to their larger counterparts. This is the first B4B conference to take place in the U.S. with the first three being in Brazil, India and the United Kingdom.  The sponsor, “UBM, is a global live media and B2B communications, marketing service and data provider.”  They are a producer of conferences and conventions.  This is an example of utilizing one of their core competencies, that of convening, to bring together businesses and NGOs to tackle serious problems more effectively.  There plan is to produce B4B annually and they already have scheduled conferences in London, Sao Paulo and Mumbai through 2013.

Points of Light, along with its local HandsOn affiliate OneOC, were part of the advisory board for the conference.  Neil Bush, Chairman of Points of Light, gave an inspiring closing keynote address.  Many of the principals of Reimagining Service were evident in the presentations such as making volunteering a core strategic function, not an add-on.

There is much momentum around companies providing pro-bono services using their core competencies such as web design, human resources, marketing, finance and program design to help nonprofits be more effective in achieving their mission.  Many of these companies, including ours, are taking the Billion + Change pledge as part of the largest commitment of pro bono service in history.  Business4Better is exactly what it says and hopefully more businesses of all sizes will learn that creating societal value is also a good business strategy. http://www.business4better.org/ http://www.reimaginingservice.org/

This is a reprint of an article that originally appeared on Reimagining Service’s website.