CSR for Covid-19

“ The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in service of others”

- Mahatma Gandhi

Crises are not pre-planned, it can happen anytime anywhere so it is very important to handle the crisis at the right time before it wrecks everything. As the whole world is suffering from the pandemic of Covid-19 the economy is badly affected and it becomes difficult for the government to handle every situation due to lack of funds. Thus many Corporates step forward for a helping hand towards society as their CSR activity. For these companies require proper guidance and consulting about how they can serve society during the Outbreak of Covid-19.


Innovation Financial Advisors Pvt Ltd (Fiinovation) is a leading research and advisory firm that offers expertise in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability domain. Fiinovation Projects are appreciated by many companies as their investment in Fiinovation CSR activities brings effective results. SMS India had made a partnership with Fiinovation for Covid-19 Project in Odisha.


Following are the details of Covid-19 Relief Project:

To reach as many unprivileged people in Odisha to provide food facilities

To conduct an awareness session on hygiene and social distancing

Providing dry rations and hygiene essentials to poor and needy families.

The project will be implemented in Khordah district in Odisha and aims to benefit 2500 households in that area.

Fiinovation CEO Dr Soumitro Chakraborty and team are tirelessly working to make this project successful and also to implement it in different parts of the country. Fiinovation is honoured with Most Caring Company Award World CSR Congress, Mumbai-2015 and also appreciated by around the world.

How Businesses can help during Covid-19?

During this pandemic, everyone is working from home as many businesses are affected including Hotels, Airlines and various manufacturing plants are closed due to this lot of people are on the urge to lose their jobs because of low Income.

Companies are deducting some percent of salaries from their employees due to less profit and to contribute towards Covid-19 relief programs.

They can arrange food and medical facilities for needy people.

To Implement CSR activities so that their Investment will add value in society.

Promoting Covid-19 awareness campaign

Providing transport facilities for goods and services

In this lockdown situation, the government and corporates work hand in hand to serve the society with various CSR activities, For this many reputed companies like Tata, Wipro etc are now contributing to fulfilling the needs for food and healthcare services for the society.
Fiinovation partners with different companies to serve the society as their ongoing Covid-19 Relief project to benefit 2500 households in Khordah District by delivering food & hygiene facilities and also to spread awareness about the safety measures during Covid-19.

Fiinovation believes in transparency as we can also track the progress of the project through their social media sites like Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. Companies can also contact Fiinovation for their CSR activities as Fiinovation Projects are well recognized by society.

Contact through links: Fiinovation Twitter

Fiinovation Youtube

Fiinovation Delhi NGO address: 24/30, Ground Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase - III, New Delhi - 110020, Delhi, India

Fiinovation reviews: Amplifying CSR through Social Media

Gone are the days, when companies use to contribute towards social causes without analysing the social return of investments. The Delhi-based CSR Consultancy, Fiinovation is of opinion that in today’s date, companies are not only doing good but they are also utilizing every possible medium to promote and spread awareness about their social campaigns and sustainability practices. Social media, being the favorite and most effective medium. Hence, it will be foolish of any corporate to ignore the power of social media rather they should use it as a tool to increase the footprint of their corporate social responsibility initiatives across the globe.

Using social media for promoting the good cause can lead to a plethora of business benefits ranging from increased stakeholders engagement, enhanced goodwill, brand visibility and competitive advantage. A joint study by the Pew Research Center and John S. And James L. Knight Foundation reveals that 63% of the space at Facebook and Twitter serves as a source for sharing news about events and global issues. Hence, it is also important to communicate the brand messages to intended audience through the channels preferred by the audiences.

As per cio.com, the 1.8 billion monthly active users of Facebook, sends out an average of 31.25 million messages every minute everyday. These numbers prove that social media platforms provide an influential network of passionate customers supporting brand’s initiatives and endeavours. Companies like P&G have leveraged the benefit of this spectacular stakeholder presence through their campaign, “Future Friendly Challenge” on Facebook. The program was launched to help customers save water, conserve energy, and reduce waste through several activities like donating clean drinking water to children for a day, pledging to save energy and reduce wastage and save energy for 90 days. P&G designed the strategy in a way that customers can send page invitations, educate their friends and motivate them to participate in the challenge. The brand also invited the followers to share their experience and tips on how to fulfil the objectives of this challenge.

Through this simple initiative, P&G received tremendous Return on Engagement within a few months. The statistics show that around 20,000 followers participated in the challenge and saved water and energy as well as reducing wastage for 3 months. The clean drinking was donated by each of them, amounting to 20,000 days of clean water donation. Around 7000 posts were made and shared by the supporters comprising their tips and experiences leading to total active engagement of around 48,000. The above example of P&G, integrating CSR with social media strategy has not only amplified the good actions of the company but have also helped in generating large number of supporters across the social media platform. Additionally, this will create a lasting impact on the minds of customers, strengthen trust and loyalty in the brand providing them edge over their competitors. Fiinovation appreciates P&G for utilizing the social media platforms for spreading awareness about their CSR campaign as well as passively educating customers about the importance of safe drinking water and energy conservation.

Looking at the stupendous growth of social media platforms in near future, brands are not going to leave any stone unturned in communicating and promoting their CSR initiatives on the social networks. They find it the best and easiest mediums to engage their stakeholders and enhance their brand value.

Nike’s Digital Advocacy Director Laura Adams says social media has become instrumental in Nike’s evolution as a brand and as a socially responsible and more sustainable enterprise. “At the end of the day, it’s the people out doing work that are going to get us to achieve our goals,” said Adams.

Need for A Robust CSR Strategy for An Organization ~Fiinovation~

Corporate Social Responsibility is a time-tested mean of addressing social challenges afflicting the society through corporate intervention. It is generally undertaken by corporate houses to create value in the society. To accomplish the same, companies often embed a CSR strategy in their business operations. A comprehensive CSR Strategy is a robust framework on which a corporation lays the foundation of its CSR activities.

The enactment of Indian Companies Act – 2013 brought a paradigm shift in the way CSR activities in India were carried out. The law made CSR a permanent and mandatory fixture of an organization’s business activities. However, at the same time, it incorporated an element of flexibility that allows corporations to design a CSR strategy that is in alignment with the business domain of their organizations.

Companies can select from any of the pressing issues that they can relate to in any way and channelize their funds accordingly. The issue chosen can either be related to their core business or something different. However, the ways in which organizations implement their CSR activities in India have also changed substantially. Besides earmarking and doling out funds for societal welfare, corporations have also started promoting voluntary services by their employees. While the ground realities necessitate that CSR activities largely remain intact, the emphasis now is to garner long-term value for the organization and the society.

So, what are the factors that should be the guiding factors for the overall CSR Strategy? And what impact will they have on the long-term results for the organization and the society? Let’s check.

Compliance
The primary requirement of a CSR strategy is to adhere to the rules and regulations laid down by the Companies Act – 2013. Compliance ensures that the organization doesn’t contravene the law and that its funding for the social welfare follows statutory regulations including environmental laws, social laws, and other government norms. Moreover, abiding by the standard parameters makes sure that funds are effectively utilized for CSR implementation.

SocialCause
The main aim of mandatory CSR for organizations fulfilling minimum eligibility criteria is to address social issues and grievances. Organizations have the liberty to select the social cause they want to address depending on factors best known to them. They can also choose to coordinate the initiatives based on their CSR Strategy with other national and international assistance programs.

StakeholderEngagement
When drafting a CSR strategy from scratch, organizations must lay emphasis on three main stakeholders – Workforce, Target Community, and Customers. These organizations should encourage their employees and motivate them to get involved in the ongoing social interventions. Also, the organizations can lay emphasis on the communities in the vicinity of their premises and try to bring about a positive change in their lives. This way they will be able to forge a strong bond with the locals. Moreover, companies should try to create a positive brand value by involving their customers or clients in their CSR efforts. A good start can be made by pledging a percentage of income from sales to a social cause.

Business
Organizations should place emphasis on value that is created through the social endeavors. The value is created on the back of four factors- Product Innovation, Skill Enhancement, Value Chain Enhancement and Market Value. Via these factors, organizations can take advantage of their technical capabilities to manufacture products that resolve a particular social problem. For example, for sanitary equipment manufacturers, this could be an inexpensive bio-toilet that will go a long way in solving the problem of lack of sanitation facilities in the countryside. Similarly, organizations can engage youth and increase their skill sets, which in the longer run, will also improve their prospects of decent livelihood.

Companies can leverage the benefits of these factors of CSR Strategy by creating essential services such as sanitation, health care, clean drinking water, education and financial literacy. There are immense opportunities in the CSR domain for the corporates. Their timely interventions in the social sector will also go a long way in improving the situation on the ground.