Corporate Social Investment
"TFG recognises its responsibility as a corporate citizen towards making a contribution to the economic and social development of South Africa. Through the group ’s CSI initiatives, various projects are undertaken for the benefit of the communities within which it operates, its customers and employees."
APPROACH TO CSI
TFG has a single corporate social investment (CSI) strategy for the group, which strives to ensure meaningful changes to people’s lives, create a culture of corporate responsibility and ultimately enhance the TFG brand and reputation.
The group's CSI initiatives are co-ordinated by the group CSI department. The predominance of women among the group’s employees and customers motivates an emphasis on directing CSI contributions primarily towards women and children, the more marginalised and vulnerable members of society, with consideration also being given to the disabled.
TFG's CSI activities are funded primarily through the TFG Foundation, an independent trust established in 2006. Further funding is derived from group resources as well as direct donations from staff. Collectively, the group invested in over 50 projects during the current financial year, the emphasis being on ensuring quality rather than quantity. Whilst the group does not currently undertake a social impact assessment of its CSI initiatives, the group seeks to ensure the sustainability of projects by providing funding to relevant organisations for three years at a time.
CSI FOCUS AREAS
CSI funds from the TFG Foundation totalling R5,3 million were allocated during the year as follows:
CSI expenditure is allocated through focus area funding and special project funding.
- Focus area funding involves making direct donations to NPOs or NGOs that meet the group's due diligence and general criteria, for the sponsorship of projects associated with the four focus areas of the group’s CSI strategy: education, skills development, arts/culture and environment, and HIV/AIDS. A brief description of key projects supported in these areas is provided later in this report.
- The group is involved in the conceptualisation, development and execution of its own CSI projects. The special project funding provides for this with the specific aim of involving its customers and employees in promoting issues of particular significance to these stakeholder groups.
WORKING TOGETHER ON CSI
The group actively encourages a culture of philanthropy and community involvement amongst its employees and business partners and CSI activities are conducted as a team effort. The group CSI department works with employees in the trading and service divisions, to help maximise the effectiveness of their individual projects, which are incentivised.
This year TFG launched a new staff CSI initiative called Pass It On (PIO), aimed at engaging its employees in CSI activities through four platforms, outlined below. Participation through any or all of these is encouraged.
- I CSI – a voluntary salary deduction in favour of a specified beneficiary
- MY CSI – a R5 000 grant for individual staff members who demonstrate ongoing involvement in a community project
- OUR CSI – a R10 000 kick-start for individual trading and service divisions within the group to encourage them to start their own CSI initiatives
- DO CSI – a platform that facilitates volunteerism
PROJECTS SUPPORTED BY THE GROUP
Following is a brief summary of a few key projects supported by TFG during the review period:
FOCUS AREA PROJECTS
Sponsoring Quality Education
TFG is an ongoing sponsor of projects that promote quality education in South Africa. Our investments focus on improving the quality of literacy, numeracy, and mathematics and science education at the stage of early childhood, as well as primary and secondary levels. Principal beneficiaries include TREE (Training & Resources in Early Education), an organisation that specialises in providing quality early childhood development training as well as Rhodes University's Mathematics Education Project which is aimed at improving the quality of mathematics teaching and learning. Both organisations work in deep rural areas within KZN and the Eastern Cape.
Promoting Arts/Culture and Environment
We fund a variety of projects that are geared towards educating children around arts and culture, and the environment. This year our choice of projects emphasised the environment. A focal project we supported is the Lapalala Wilderness School in Limpopo, which promotes an appreciation for the importance of sustainable environmental development and respect for the diversity of Africa's natural world. TFG's support funds a community outreach project which invites local schools to attend a "camp" during which they learn about nature, wildlife and cultural heritage. Our funding will enable 6 300 children and their educators to experience this opportunity.
Supporting Efforts to Manage HIV/AIDS
The group is a longstanding contributor to underresourced programmes aimed at managing HIV/AIDS in South African communities. Providing home-based care and specific support for child-headed households is an important need within the HIV environment, especially in light of the limited access to health care and the growing number of AIDS orphans in South Africa. In the year under review, our funding support focused on the following organisations: The Topsy Foundation in Gauteng, Lesedi Centre of Hope in the Free State, Sophumelela in the Eastern Cape, and Wola Nani in the Western Cape.
Promoting Skills Development
A focus of the group's efforts to promote skills development, job creation and entrepreneurship, is our commitment again this year. TFG donated R300 000 towards the Indigenous Trees for Life enterprise development programme, operated by the NGO, Wildlands Conservation Trust. This “treepreneur” project involves training members of poor and vulnerable communities as facilitators to teach communities how to grow indigenous plant seedlings. These seedlings are then traded back to Wildlands for food, clothes, bicycles, agricultural goods and tools, and school and university fees. The programme equips facilitators with additional entrepreneurial skills, to help them to start their own businesses, or help the treepreneurs with such opportunities.
TFG also provides funds to Rhodes University’s Social Development Unit in support of programmes that offer training and skills development to individuals who are working on early childhood development (ECD) sites without qualifications, or aspire to work in the ECD field.
The TFG Foundation
The TFG Foundation was registered as an independent charitable trust in August 2006, with an initial capital base provided by the group. The Foundation’s current trustees are the two TFG independent non-executive directors , Messrs E Osrin and D M Nurek. The value of the investments under the Foundation’s control as at year-end increased to R90,6 million from R85,1 million last year, as a result of current market improvements. The Foundation’s investment income is distributed as donations to selected charitable causes.
Donations made by the Foundation during the past year totalled R5,3 million, up 18% from R4,5 million last year. Merchandise donations for the benefit of The Feel Good Project aimed at promoting skills development totalled R23 million, relatively level with last year’s R22,6 million. Additional donations to the value of R1,8 million (compared to R863 529 last year) were made by various divisions of the group in cash, sundry equipment, merchandise and services. Of their own volition and from their own resources, staff members and business partners of the group contributed an additional R22 260 (up from R17 640 last year).
SPECIAL PROJECTS
The Feel Good Project
The Feel Good Project is a pioneering skills development and job creation initiative launched by the group over two years ago in partnership with the NPO, Learn to Earn. The project centres around a retail shop, The Feel Good Store, located in Claremont, Cape Town. The shop stocks reconditioned customer returns, as well as limited samples, rejects and overruns from the various TFG brands. Previously unemployed people are enrolled in the project as trainees, to work and learn skills relevant to the retail supply chain. All proceeds from the shop are reinvested in the project, which is proving to be a sustainable model. In addition to the retail shop, there is also a warehousing and production component to the project, ensuring that trainees are trained across all areas of the retail supply chain.
The store achieved a retail sales turnover of just under R4,6 million and moved 150 388 units during the year under review.
Currently, 22 unemployed people are “employed” on short-term contracts in the capacity of trainees; a total of 59 people have been trained thus far.
The project is currently being positioned to grow the number of people being trained year on year, and to promote prospects for more graduates from the project to secure employment opportunities.
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM
This year marked the sixth year of supporting the 16 Days of Activism, Act Against Abuse on Women and Children campaign. TFG donated R320 000 in support of LifeLine South Africa's Stop Gender Violence Helpline. To date, the group has donated over R2 385 000 to 38 NPOs working in this field throughout South Africa. In addition to financial support, the group conducts annual awareness-raising campaigns and negotiates publicity and exposure for the NPOs, to raise their public profile.
* A review of the RCS Group CSI initiatives is provided in the TFG Integrated Annual Report.