Happenings & News

Strategy with a heart

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

A new non-profit comes onboard to provide pro-bono consulting services to non-profits and social enterprises.

By ELEANOR YAP

Conjunct Consulting wants to make an impact in the social sector by providing pro-bono consulting to non-profits and social enterprises. It is said to be the first and only organisation in Singapore/Asia offering pro-bono social sector consulting solutions. Not only does Conjunct Consulting help the organisations get much-needed help, but it also encourages students and professionals to continue to volunteer and give back to the community. Even though their efforts deviate from the traditional Community Involvement Programme (CIP) model, the two founders, Jeremy Au and Kwok Jia Chuan, believe they are on the right track. Their work has garnered incredible support, proving that change could be a good thing.

The founders – Jeremy Au, left, and Kwok Jia Chuan.

Started in September 2011, Conjunct Consulting has already assisted four charities and roped in some 120 students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU) from various fields of study, as well as 20 professionals from different industries. SALT Online speaks to Au (JA) and  Kwok (JC), both 24 years old, about their organisation and their aspirations (Au will be working in Bain & Company in October and Kwok is a civil servant):

 

What was your motivation behind starting a non-profit organisation to help non-profits and social enterprises in Asia?

JA: During my time in Berkeley, California, I was very fortunate to work with The Berkeley Group, which provides pro-bono consulting services to non-profits in California. I had a wonderful experience with a great group of students who were passionate about making a difference. At the same time, the projects allowed us to understand the challenges of the social sector – the everyday trade-offs and the painful decisions a leader has to make while serving the community and keeping the organisation alive.

I knew that Asia deserved the same opportunity – for volunteers and the social sector to work together better. Every social sector leader deserves the very best – the best strategies, the best information and the best tools needed to make the right decisions for our community. We also needed to revolutionise volunteerism by moving away from the current hours-based paradigm to a system that allows us to use the best of our skills.

JC: For me, my inspiration was the realisation that society has already given me a lot in my life, and that too often I take it for granted. I volunteer my time and efforts so as to contribute a little bit back to society, and to bring happiness to a few more people each day. When Jeremy and I started talking about Conjunct Consulting, I realised it was a way to catalyse and multiply the efforts of many interested volunteers out there and use their different skills and talents in order to impact the social sector beyond the application of time and effort.

 

In doing the research before you set up the organisation, what were some of the key issues with which non-profits and social enterprises needed help?

JC: A key issue is strategic and management decisions – many non-profits and social enterprises are excellent at their day-to-day operations and core functions, but often want thought partners in planning how to expand and improve their organisations.

JA: Social impact assessment and outcome-based management are issues now coming to the fore. Not everything that is measured today is important, thus stakeholders and managers are increasingly demanding that everything important should be measured and improved upon. The challenge is developing a system of impact metrics that is simultaneously mission-relevant, scientifically rigorous and operationally sustainable.

 

Why did you decide to set the business up as a non-profit rather than a for-profit business with paid professionals and paid services?

JC: We are a social impact organisation creating a new model of pro-bono service for Asia. By delivering our services with professionally-mentored volunteer teams, we draw on the strengths of experienced professional and passionate student volunteers. As a non-profit, we are thus able to serve as a collaborative platform for individuals and organisations in the private, public and social sector.

 

What are your views on CIP in schools?

Community Involvement Programme (CIP) helps expose students to the needs of our communities. Many of our early experiences with volunteer services stem from school-led initiatives, and this is evidence of how CIP has exposed us to the social sector. While CIP does expose us to community service, we wanted to ask students to think about how to help the social sector and use their skills that they learn in university to work together as a team to create sustained and impactful results.

 

What areas do you concentrate on in your consulting of non-profits/social enterprises?

JC: We do not concentrate on specific areas – rather, our model allows us to assemble the best teams to find solutions to different problems in the social sector. Through a process of training students and professionals and then matching them into teams according to their different skill sets and passions, we assemble teams that match the needs of our clients.

 

How do you choose or get the students and/or professionals to assist in the consulting projects? How much time do they put in per week?

JC: The choice of members in a team is primarily values-driven. We look for three values in a consultant – passion, a focus on impact and collaboration. We care for our communities, deliver social impact rather than processes, and work well in interdisciplinary teams. To sustain this, we have structured a values-driven selection process that enables us to find members that mesh with our values, culture and results. On average, the students put in 10 to 15 hours a week and professionals contribute about three to seven hours a week.

 

What is your training curriculum like?

JA: We ready our student members for project success and equip them as future social sector leaders with three modes of development ­– trainings, practicums and mentorships.

Our members learn the quantitative and qualitative skills needed to make decisions in the social sector. We incorporate rigorous coverage of core content, intensive group-work directed by trainers, and frank discussions by social sector leaders.

Practicums teach our members how to best use their skills. All members undergo case camps, highly realistic simulations of critical organisational decisions, to learn how to better conduct research, synthesise information and deliver recommendations in a time-sensitive environment.

Mentorships provide individual guidance and feedback. Just as professionals mentor their student counterparts, student leaders mentor their juniors. This is how we equip every single member to be ready for a deeper level of service.

 

Can you share the process of a project from start to finish in the three-month time of a project?

JA: During the project, the team will deliver at least 700 man-hours of service with the support of our leaders, partner, and networks. To ensure quality outcomes, all projects go through this rigorously structured cycle – assembly, scoping, work planning, data gathering, analysis, progress review, recommendation development and finale.

After being assembled based on capabilities and client needs, the two professionals and five students meet, bond and form the team. The issue is scoped into a statement of work with client-defined deliverables. The challenge is then segmented, prioritised and assigned to team members with an internal work plan. Data is gathered through primary and secondary research, and then analysed to develop a fact base. The team shares its interim findings at an internal progress review and client progress update. Recommendations, action steps and operational details are developed in tandem with the client. Finally, the defined deliverables satisfying the statement of work are presented at the internal and client finale.

Conjunct Consulting then conducts three follow-up sessions to the client after the project cycle – one at the six-month mark, one at the one-year mark and one at the two-year mark. During these sessions, an independent Conjunct Consulting unit conducts a quantitative assessment of increased organisational effectiveness, a qualitative assessment of how our work can be improved, and a discussion on any new action steps to enhance project outcomes.

 

How do you all volunteer manage?

JC: We operate on a hub-and-spoke system where the central Hub, consisting of the Executive Committee and professionals, coordinates national-level activities such as case camps, client relations, training standards and publicity efforts. At the same time, the student chapters in the different universities conduct the training syllabus and member recruitment, team selection and mentorship programs. This is so they specialise in what they can do best, swiftly make autonomous decisions, and innovate for results in their duties. We further enhance our coordination with knowledge management, file-sharing and task management cloudware.

 

What challenges have you been facing since you started?

JA: When we first started out, the key obstacle we faced was skepticism. People were questioning how the Conjunct Consulting model worked and their role in it, and they were rightfully concerned about how it would be managed. After all, we are a new model of volunteerism and a new system that changes how the social sector works. The way we went about facing this problem was finding the people who believed in the same cause we did, rather than focusing on the skepticism.

 

Where is your funding coming from?

JA: We have been pleasantly surprised by the community’s reception and outpouring of support for our model of service. To diversify our funding, our student and professional members make a small contribution to cover baseline operating costs. We are fully committed to financial transparency and allow all members to view our budget, financial information and independent audit reports on our internal knowledge platform.

Our financial sustainability strategy is to solidify our donation base with a donor recognition program, gain seed-funding for several productivity infrastructure investments, and develop a per-project funding model with our private, public and social sector partners.

 

How do you plan to keep the organisation sustainable?

JC: The key to sustainability is to deliver results. If we provide quality advice to our clients and at the same time manage to deliver a great experience to our volunteers, people will keep coming back to us. At the same time, we are immensely humbled at the support we have received so far and that is a testament of the passion of the volunteers and team we have with us.

 

Anything you would like to add?

JC: Start now and keep thinking of new ideas to aid the social sector. Be courageous and keep trying – every step makes a difference, no matter how small.

 

This article was first published in SALT

Number of grassroots leaders on the rise

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

More people are volunteering their services to the community.

The People’s Association said the number of grassroots leaders hit 32,000 in December 2011, an increase of 16 per cent compared to five years ago.

More from the minority groups are also stepping up to the challenge, with a 12 per cent increase in Malay grassroots leaders and 26 per cent for Indians.

The PA added that the number of new citizens and PRs has also increased by about 10 per cent in the past couple of years.

This is an encouraging sign and puts Singapore on track to achieving its Community 2015 Vision.

The PA’s vision for the community aims to develop Singapore as a great home and a caring community – a place where residents would feel a strong sense of belonging and pride, and where neighbours know one another, and care for each other.

Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive Director of the People’s Association, said: “Many have to manage their time between work, family and their other commitments. I’m just touched that despite the challenges, many have also come forward as they believe it’s important to serve others in the community.

“They believe there are things they can do to reach out to fellow Singaporeans in their community and despite the challenges, they put in time and effort to be grassroots leaders to serve their neighbours and friends.”

In a bid to give recognition to grassroots leaders for their contributions to society, the PA Awards ceremony will be held this Saturday.

This article was first published in CNA

Doing GOOD is good for business in Singapore and globally

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

When it comes to business, success is often measured by top line and bottom line performance.

In the middle of this equation are the less tangible but equally important components such as customer loyalty, employee morale and corporate reputation. Yet there is one more crucial metric that affects overall success and today’s consumers in Singapore and the world over are increasingly using it to measure your business – and that’s corporate citizenship. Yes, doing good is good for business.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) typically focuses on a particular aspect of giving back to the community, and in turn, demonstrating that the company offers the intangibles of safety, security and goodness that are valuable to all. This giving generates, among other things, a higher morale among employees, an increased sense of corporate culture and value, as well as a stronger and admired reputation.

Doing Good from the Inside Out. When you are striving to meet your business objectives, it’s essential that to have the right people who are deeply committed to the corporation’s mission and long-term vision.

When a company is able to maintain high morale among employees, it is better able to retain top talent and is better equipped to succeed in an increasingly competitive world. One factor that plays a major role in maintaining high morale among employees is the level of connection they feel within the organization.

Employee programs that promote volunteerism, community outreach and humanitarian support provide employees with a common cause that allows them to feel connected and more loyal to the company and its business objectives.

Let me illustrate this point from my own experience. Since 1998, Nu Skin has set up a Southeast Asia Children’s Heart Fund to sponsor children who are diagnosed with congenital heart disease each year, but the family does not have the financial resources to go for the life-saving surgery.

I had the opportunity to take part in this Force for Good initiative and together with our distributor forces as well as fellow colleagues to keep up a healthy fund to help these children. Today, we have helped save the lives of more than 4,500 children.

Interestingly, these children and their families are not the only lives to be changed. We find that our employees are more fulfilled. They are more committed to the company. They have a stronger desire to help others and because they are involved in a company that has the same desire, their loyalty grows, and they are all working together toward the same goals of helping the company grow and changing lives in the process.

In our Singapore operation, we have seen the effect of this simple CSR initiative on employee retention. Their commitment to the long-term business success of the company is heightened by their connection to the cause we support.

We have also seen a number of our independent distributors and customers become more and more involved in this program – again, strengthening the tie between them and the company.

When this strength is combined with the quality of our products and business opportunity, we find that we have been able to achieve greater success. Of course there are other factors that contribute to this success – to suggest otherwise would be untruthful. But the common thread that unites all of the efforts that make up this success is as simple as working together to make a positive impact in the lives of helpless children.

Doing good is good for business.

Conclusion. Whether a company’s CSR efforts stem from a desire to improve morale, uphold values, improve reputation or a combination of the three, the good that we can do as a business community will have a great impact – not only on the lives of the people around us, but also on the success of our business endeavors. 

This article was first published in Singapore Business Review.

Dialect classes for NUS volunteers

Posted by SG Volunteer Team on in Happenings & News

For National University of Singapore (NUS) economics undergraduate Genevieve Ng, a volunteer with NUS Community Service Club, not understanding Cantonese proved to be the biggest challenge when it came to helping a particular elderly woman.

The woman, who was in her 70s, could not understand a word Miss Ng, who speaks Mandarin and English, said.

The 23-year-old was tasked – along with other volunteers – to help clean the woman’s one- room Jalan Bukit Merah flat three years ago.

“Without a translator, my friends and I were lost,” recalled Miss Ng. “We weren’t sure what to touch and what not to touch.”

Likewise, the woman was unable to direct them, and often lost patience with them.

Thus, Miss Ng is glad that the Community Service Club has introduced dialect lessons for volunteers, and she attended its first Cantonese workshop last Monday.

The NUS club has been around for a decade and has some 300 student members.

The club’s dialect classes, which began last year with the introduction of Hokkien classes, are taught by student volunteers.

Last Monday, the student lounge at NUS was a hive of activity, with 20 students congregating around trainer and fellow club member So Man Shan, 21, during the two-hour workshop. Miss So, a geography major, came to Singapore from Hong Kong at the age of two.

She taught her fellow students common phrases and simple greetings, and also how to ask about aches and pains, in Cantonese.

The dialect lessons are the brainchild of club member Tan Hong Yu, 25, a chemical- and biomolecular-engineering undergraduate who has been an active volunteer at various organisations for nine years.

He noticed the language barrier between elderly beneficiaries and young NUS volunteers during home visits to the terminally ill.

Mr Tan himself started brushing up on his Hokkien at the age of 16, so that he could better help the needy. He said: “When we speak their language, the elderly tend to be more comfortable with sharing their fears.”

Miss Ng said: “No matter how broken the dialect we speak may be, the elderly feel happy when we can communicate with them.”

This article was first published in Asiaone