Roadmap to Success:

Creating an Effective Corporate Social Responsibility Plan

The Sapphire Alliance is committed to ensuring our clients receive real value for their investments in corporate social responsibility.  Corporations and foundations must be accountable to their boards and investors and at Sapphire Alliance, our goal is to help our clients invest their philanthropic dollars wisely.  To that end, we have developed a roadmap to create tailored, effective social responsibility programs that are compatible with our clients' business goals and missions.

 Assessment: The Crucial First Step

The first step in creating an effective program is to understand our clients' business. Whether our client is a corporation or a foundation, the Sapphire Alliance is capable of quickly and thoroughly assessing its business, governance, and goals to help determine which philanthropic arena best correlates with its unique needs.   This first step is crucial, yet it is historically overlooked by many funders.   

The Sapphire Alliance is adept at identifying the intersection of organizational interests.  We work with our clients to assess their business and philanthropic interests, as well as their corporate culture and fiduciary responsibilities, and identify where these interests intersect with potential philanthropic partners.  By understanding the intersection of interests, needs and goals, we can help our clients design a social responsibility strategy that creates real value - value for the bottom line and value for society.

 Creating Effective and Value-Driven Partnerships

Assessing a funder's situation and developing a philanthropic strategy is just the beginning.  Too often, corporations and foundations see a challenge and move quickly to fund a solution.  There often is little desire for the time consuming work of cooperation. However, Sapphire Alliance believes that the most effective use of the funder's support is to work in a collaborative manner with  philanthropic partners.  Solo efforts by funders offer the advantage of a quick PR hit, but also lack the potential for long term, sustainable development.  Sapphire Alliance provides our clients not only  a recommendation of  philanthropic partners - such as non-governmental organizations, foundations, governments, and others - but also provides in-depth analysis, planning, and strategic recommendations to create an effective program.  In addition, we work with our clients and their partners to develop a management plan to optimize communications and performance to ensure sustainable value is realized by all parties

Developing a Primary Plan

With the depth and breadth of our collective experience, the Sapphire Alliance is able to develop a unique plan that integrates social responsibility with our clients' mission and corporate goals.  This primary plan, however, need not be set in stone.  Just as our clients must be able to respond quickly to market changes, the Sapphire Alliance must be nimble and ready for change.  The primary plan is our guide, but the Alliance realizes that markets, public opinion, and public policy can change quickly.  We track trends and issues and work with our clients to ensure that the philanthropic strategy we have developed reflects a client's current situation and environment.  In addition, before fully embarking on a particular roadmap, the Sapphire Alliance works with our clients to test the hypothesis of the plan, to better ensure success and value.

Listening to  Feedback

Sapphire Alliance believes that the most likely sustainable solutions cannot be implemented without feedback.  Each plan must integrate the insights, realities, and wisdom of those local "heroes" on the front lines.  These are the people who will remain to fight this battle after funders have moved on to new projects. 

Many development aid programs fail to create sustainable programs because they neglect the wisdom of the local community facing the challenge.  Those who serve on the front lines have a unique insight into what it takes to make solutions last long term.  Successful businesses understand their consumers.  This should also be true of social justice work.  For this reason, Sapphire Alliance engages local leaders - those on the front lines -  in the initial plan to gain their insights, suggestions, and feedback.  With that "customer" feedback, we are able to provide our funders a real world solution with a greater chance for sustainability.

Managing Risk and Avoiding Pitfalls

Corporate funders are usually not in the business of development and aid.  For that reason, it is  it is prudent for them to work through local non-governmental organizations, faith-based programs, or governments to better manage risk.  But, selecting  the wrong partner or organization to fund  could be disastrous.  As one funder pointed out, if they accidentally invested in a terrorist front group, it would end all their philanthropic efforts.  Sapphire Alliance provides detailed screening of the nonprofits or other philanthropic partners we recommend for our clients. 

Building Capacity for Lasting Success

Writing a check is quick and easy; building a valuable relationship is not.  Instead of simply writing a check to a partner NGO, the funder establishes a capacity building relationship through Sapphire Alliance's consultants.  One of the greatest reasons for development failure is that nonprofits often can't match their grand vision with the day to day business skills to get the job done.  Sapphire Alliance, on behalf of the funder, works as a consultant and coach with funded programs to maximize success.

Policy Focus

Most development efforts fail to acknowledge the crucial role governments and their policies play in successful development.  Sapphire Alliance recognizes the importance of changing policy to leverage successful results.  We will build relationships with local governments and, when needed, funding governments.  Effective policy change can maximize the opportunity for success.  Sapphire Alliance includes consultants who have an understanding of how policy and lobbying works. 

Public Relations

Funders who are doing the right thing by supporting people/causes around the world in challenging situations deserve to be acknowledged.  Talent retention increases when employees realize they are working for a funder who acts responsibly in the world. 

Investors and stock holders are paying more and more attention to the social actions of their companies.  Consumers are also making decisions based on the perceived social responsibility of companies.  In a recent study (July 2006) conducted by scholars at the New York University Stern School of Business and University of Texas at Dallas School of Management the question of " Is Doing Good Good for You?" was researched and evaluated.  The resulting finding was the "Yes, Charitable Contributions Enhance Revenue Growth".

Sapphire Alliance works with our funders and their partners to get the good word out through third parties.  The objective is to maximize the attention for the cause while also publicizing the positive contributions of the Client.  For this reason, Sapphire Alliance has a number of PR and marketing experts within our team of consultants.

Market Driven

We prefer to work with partners who can assure our funders that their efforts are sustainable after the funder's initial support is completed.  We prefer programs that work in accordance with market forces.  If there are programs that can create a profit incentive to do the good work, we'll highlight that program to funders.  Programs that perpetuate an increase in a local dependency on outside philanthropy will be discouraged.  With every challenge, Sapphire Alliance will explore the possibility of a profit or incentive based solution that assures its sustainability.

Metrics Driven

Sapphire Alliance believes that making an emotional appeal to a worthy cause is not enough.  We look for programs that will cooperate with us by using data driven solutions.  Our programs will need to put their challenges into measurable metrics.  Sapphire Alliance begins efforts with initial benchmarks, goals and results.  Metrics are the only way to know if any intiative is truly working and therefore must me incorporated into the work of all of our funders' programs. This serves two fundamental purposes: first, it assists the funder in measuring planned versus actual results in a business model fashion and second, it provides realistic, measurable goals and results for the funding recipient.