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Social Investment Strategy

Developing a Social Investment Strategy relates to a business’s strategic approach to engaging with communities in the vicinity of their operations. Having such a strategy helps businesses identify what are the responsibilities they might have to wider society, how they might address these and what resources, expertise and leadership is required to ensure implementation of this strategy. Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) uses a collaborative approach to designing or refreshing a comprehensive and impactful social investment strategy. Through it, we have identified and brokered many of the strongest corporate-charity partnerships currently in place in Ireland, ensuring they respond to genuine needs and create measurable social impacts.

Recent Trends

In recent years, the following trends and priorities have been emerging to influence the roll out of a business Social Investment Strategy.

Shift towards greater Social Impact Measurement with companies implementing greater methods of measuring what might be the long-term societal impacts of the community initiatives they have supported.
More member companies seeking to establish longer-term strategic partnerships with Irish charities that address a particular cause or social issue (such as mental health, diversity & inclusion, financial literacy, etc.)
Companies increasingly shifting towards more skills-based forms of volunteering which fully utilise the skillsets of their employees. Charities are also increasingly requesting skills-sharing and project support from the corporate sector.

Accordingly, BITCI supports our member companies to develop their Social Investment Strategy through:

Using our Business Working Responsibly Mark as a framework, support member companies to design approaches, partnerships and initiatives that are more strategic, meaningful, and impactful.
Our own Social Investment Model supports companies in developing a Social Investment Strategy that is aligned with their core business strategy.
Broker long-term, multi-layered strategic partnerships between member companies and charities through our Flagship Charity Partnership process.
Facilitate engagement of member companies in BITCI’s Education and Employment programmes which are superb ways for our member companies to deliver positive social impact and build strong relationships in their local communities.

Eason

To deepen their community engagement, Eason recently partnered with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) as their new charity partner.

The partnership, which includes an annual donation, a range of fundraising and volunteering initiatives, and collection mechanisms both in-store and online, is an exciting new chapter for Eason.

The partnership followed a 10-month process undertaken with BITCI to explore and define the Eason’s approach to community engagement. Working closely with BITCI, Eason set out clear criteria for their ideal partner, considering themes, potential outcomes, and alignment with their values. Through this process, they shortlisted four organisations and invited them to present to a working group before selecting ISPCC.

The collaboration is set to make a significant impact. Brendan Corbett, Eason’s Head of Marketing, reflected on the process, saying: “BITCI’s guidance was invaluable. They supported us in addressing key factors and setting robust criteria for this partnership, which led to our selection of ISPCC. We’re thrilled to start this journey and would highly recommend BITCI’s expertise to any business exploring similar opportunities.”

With the partnership now underway, Eason and ISPCC are looking forward to building a strong and impactful relationship in the years ahead.