Col Sanders is smiling with pride
Corporate philanthropy, social responsibility, social justice, social investment, charity — call it what you will. It is not a new concept. Businesses have been donating to charity and setting up foundations for years. However, companies are increasingly incorporating corporate social responsibility (CSR) into their business plans, values and ethos as they find that giving back is the best way to take their business forward.
“With great power comes great responsibility” is a simple, enlightening and pointed mantra. Power is your ability to transform and effect change, for the better, for the lives of your fellow citizens, both locally and abroad.
Responsibility is the ethos that ensures you take that power and channel it for the greater good; to save lives, alleviate hunger and bring hope.
There is debate about how economic and social objectives are balanced in brands and corporates.
Common questions include: is the return on investment (ROI) in social capital offset on the bottom line? What is the business case for CSR? Or is it more the emotional ROI that organisations feel when they do good?
While a strong CSR programme has many intangible benefits, a few that can be measured over time are worth noting, such as increasing brand loyalty among consumers, creating a strong internal culture, enhancing employee satisfaction and building relationships with communities where the business operates.
Faced with the shocking statistic from World Data Lab that, by 2025, 21.18% of children will suffer stunted cognitive and physical development due to malnutrition, KFC decided in 2009 that we wanted to play a more active role in providing solutions for some of the challenges faced by South Africans on a daily basis.
As a food brand, it was a no-brainer that the starting point would be to develop a programme to overcome hunger and malnutrition in children.
Our “Add Hope” programme was born with the aspiration of being the biggest feeder of children in this country, bigger than the government.
But we needed a funding mechanism that would be both sustainable and scalable. We therefore structured Add Hope funding in two ways: donating a fixed percentage of operational costs to the programme and creating a channel whereby KFC customers and the public can add R2 to their bills.
Today, 14 years later and with more than 283-million meals served, we have demonstrated the power of just what R2 can do; that small change can create a big change.
An article in Forbes put it thus: “Philanthropy increases brand loyalty when you practise it genuinely. Giving back increases engagement by sharing a mission and purpose with your customer base.” Giving a meal to a child creates hope. Successful corporate social investment (CSI) programmes must be strategic, structured and transparent. If the first rule of CSI is to be genuine, the second is to be totally transparent about how all those R2 donations are being spent.
Every single cent of every R2 collected goes to nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). There is no administration fee.
It is very important to align your CSI with your brand and business values, and make social responsibility part of your corporate identity, not merely an add-on. That is how you make it stick.
Our success has been made possible by the nonprofit organisations (NPOs) with which we have partnered to help us distribute the meals. That in itself is a lesson.
Most CSI funds in South Africa go to NPOs and it is important to select a reputable one. The more rigorous the vetting and auditing protocols are, the more you are assured the money is working as it should.
Last month we partnered with Gift of the Givers and every single R2 donation raised for Add Hope was administered by it. Gift of the Givers embodies the very best of what South Africa is and should be.
Through it, Add Hope will help more South African children, changing and saving lives. Together we are not just adding hope; we are delivering it, one meal at a time.
At KFC, we recognise that our responsibility as a brand is to protect our children, and our future.