Background
2009's activities were conducted under the shadow of the economic crisis which greatly affected support for charities and volunteering throughout the world as well as in Israel. It was already evident in the latter half of 2008 that we needed to prepare the organization for changing economic conditions and how to maintain our activities in the community. During this period, in order to ensure the continuation of our work with the business sector and their employees, we needed to exert flexibility and to create new programs which would allow for community involvement despite financial constraints caused by the crisis. This strategy proved successful as was seen by the rise in volunteer activities and projects during 2009 even though financial contributions were less. Some of these donations were earmarked for forthcoming activities in future years which ensures continuation and the projects' stability.
2009 in numbers
50 million Shekels were invested in the community in a variety of ways developed by Matan together with companies, donors and foundations in Israel and from abroad.
Tens of volunteers' activities were developed for tens of companies and altogether 17,600 hours of volunteering were undertaken by 5597 employees. This is an increase from the previous year and is the result of a wide selection of volunteer activities, improved internal marketing and recognition.
57 business ventures worked with Matan in a wide range of active involvement: volunteering in a wide scope of community fields, building partnerships between the community and the companies, running workplace campaigns, creating community strategies, and flagship projects. In addition we provided professional information and support to companies on business - community issues.
More than 300 social organizations received assistance in a variety of ways from the partnerships developed by Matan. Matan's accumulated knowledge in the area of social welfare and society and of organizations working in the field allows us to serve donors be they in Israel or abroad
Less than 2% of the budget in 2009 was expended on administrative costs. The fiscal value of In-kind services and volunteering hours generated by Matan are not counted in the budget. The majority of funding goes to community partners or is designated and operated by Matan.
Activities - a quick glance
Workplace Campaigns
Great emphasis is placed on workplace campaigns whose purpose is to raise the awareness of the importance and effectiveness of employees donating to social organizations. 2009 was no exception and much was invested in developing these campaigns. Campaigns were tailor-made to suit the companies with an understanding that less financial resources were available and, often, fewer employees. 20 campaigns were held involving some 20,000 employees throughout the country. The campaigns were led by 431 volunteer coordinators trained for their role by Matan. Companies allowed for more than 440 meetings where presentations were made by community organizations and when employees were able to give their support and donations 100% of donations, including matching from management, go to the organizations selected. The commitment of employees and their companies to social projects is paramount and is the expression of Matan's vision of promoting and encouraging philanthropy.
Involving Senior Management in community action
This year, for the first time, we employed new technology which allowed for a CEO to appeal directly - and virtually - to the employees by a pop-up clip circulated as part of the campaign. This approach places the CEOs as leaders, personally involved in the campaign and strengthens their involvement and ownership of the community action.
Effective Community Investment
This year we continued to develop our knowledge and know how so that we are able to provide quality advice as a basis for decision making for donors, foundations, local or foreign. In addition we improved our ability to offer tailor-made suitable platforms for designated donations thus promoting effective social change.
Recommendations for social investments are based on knowledge of community needs, familiarity with hundreds of social organizations, stringent assessments and due diligence, success indicators, financial and quality control on the implementation of resources and reporting.
Management capacity building for social organizations as part of effective community investments
This year we designed the content of the "Matan Track for NPO Executives" with the aim of providing the participants with more practical tools for enhancing their work. With the strategic partnership of KPMG Somekh Chaikin, lectures and workshops were given by 35 volunteers from amongst the top professionals in the business sector.
Also Matan's mentoring program – Personal Track - has provided a new avenue for volunteering whereby senior executives from companies mentor CEO's of NPO's vis a vis management issues. In 2009 40 mentoring tracks were operated.
Evaluation capacity building as a management tool for Social Organizations -
In 2009 a training program was created, the first of its kind, to develop internal organizational measurement and evaluation abilities. These skills enable organizations to assess their performance, understand their impact, improve their activities and utilize the data with the different stakeholders. Four organizations participated in the pilot program and the results testify to a great success and achievement of goals.
The challenges for 2010
We have set ourselves the challenge of increasing the total resources raised for the community despite the economic climate. We believe the benefits will be realized in 2011. Increasing the number of corporate partners is the first step. In addition we want to add to this number private donors and foundations that we represent.
The decision making- process involved in community investment is long and demanding, from the first meeting to implementing the community investment. Therefore if we aim to achieve a 15% increase in resources by 2011, we need to enlarge our constituency in 2010 and to involve many more workplaces and employees in giving campaigns.
We hope that more will join us on this journey of social giving and that the community will share the dividends of success with all partners.
