Social Responsibility Gets New Home At ThoughtRocket.com October 9, 2008
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USA (SANEPR.com) October 9, 2008 — Corporate Social Responsibility gains momentum with the help of Will Marre, acclaimed speaker and CSR advocate. Marre, CEO of Realeadership Alliance, today announced the launch of his new multi-media CSR resource and daily blog site, ThoughtRocket.com. Upon reviewing the site, Neville Billamoria, Vice President of Marketing for a regional credit union, stated, “This is exactly what people need, who have a persistent longing to make a difference right where they are, right now.”
To cite a recent example of how Corporate Social Responsibility can work in the real world, Marre (with co-founder Dr. Paul Cox) created a strategic relationship with a large international skin-care company, which agreed to use botanical ingredients found in tropical island plants in a popular line of products. In return, the company pays a 25-cents-per bottle royalty which helps fund Seacology projects. (Seacology [ http://www.Seacology.org “>, co-founded by Marre, is an innovative non-profit dedicated to saving the rain forests and coral reefs of tropical islands, while preserving indigenous cultures.)
“Every individual, from CEO to stay-at-home mother, can make a difference to save the world if they examine their unique gifts, talents and experience to make the biggest impact”, says Will Marre. “Imagine a future where all of us are making our best contribution to create our Greatest Total Value. That’s the world of Sustainable Abundance. And it’s within our reach.”
Marre’s latest book, to be published by Capital Books in early 2009, is titled “Save the World and Still Be Home For Dinner”. In this new book, he urges businesses and individuals alike to take responsibility and ask: What can I do to transform my job, my business, and my life to help create a sustainable future for all?
Marre’s mission for his new website is “to drive world-wide sustainable abundance by inspiring leaders with mind-blowing business ideas they act on.” His decades of experience have given him a powerful ability to translate what he calls the Triple Bottom Line [ http://www.thoughtrocket.com/triple-bott… “> - people, planet, and profit - into a unique value advantage. “When you combine people, planet and profit, the new sources of value and points of differentiation you uncover yield top-line growth, fiercely loyal customers, and committed internal and external talent”, says Marre.
Visitors to the ThoughtRocket web site [ http://www.ThoughtRocket.com “> are greeted by a short video, entitled: “Sustainable Abundance: the Greatest economic and leadership opportunity in the history of the world.” Marre truly feels that we should not view this movement as Corporate Social Responsibility, but rather Corporate Social Opportunity.
About Will Marre
Will Marre co-founded the Covey Leadership Center, and as President was instrumental in bringing the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to millions. Marre has also been a personal leadership coach and advisor to CEOs of multi-billion dollar global companies. For the past 10 years, he has focused on making Corporate Social Responsibility strategic. He has helped publicly traded companies forge working alliances with non-profits, and helped non-profits find corporate partners. Will received an Emmy award for writing a learning documentary, “Reclaiming Your American Dream”, which continues to air on public television stations across the country.
Press Release Submission By PressReleasePoint
Contact:
Will Marre
info at thoughtrocket.com
http://www.thoughtrocket.com
Izibead October 7, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: Breast Cancer, business, Cancer
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I came across these guys on an e-mail they sent me. I don’t know much about them, nor do I endorse or know much about what they do. i.e. it sounds good but a bit of investigating is always recommended no matter what any charity or sponsorship initiative says.
But the concept sounded good and proved the point that anybody can make a contribution, no matter how small.
Check out their website here - http://www.izibead.com/Main/aboutus.html
The e-mail sent to me read:
A truly dear friend of mine is battling through her treatments as I write this. More and more people are being affected by this disease every day and there is still no suitable cure. For each kit sold Izibead will donate R3.00 to Breast Cancer Research. Our goal is to make a difference, no matter how small.
Please take a look at our website for more details. An order form is available on our site for download. It would be greatly appreciated if you could print one out and circulate amongst your staff.
Izibead supplies schools throughout South Africa with educational material. For this initiative we are more than happy to supply the private sector also.
Visit us here
www.izibead.com/breastcancer.htm
Finally South African Rock Music with Heart! August 13, 2008
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Author: Morag Stiles
When I heard of Feedback from Cape Town, I honestly thought in my arrogance that no one could compare with Seether at this point. However I have been a fan of Rock music since the tender age of 8, when my father caught me listening to KISS, and thus I must admit that this band left me pleasantly surprised.
Reminiscent of early LIVE, sumptuously infused with Creed overtones, Feedback’s lead singer has a signature sound which instantly transported me to the first time I heard Lightening Crashes by Live. I became an instant fan.
Moreover, in contacting this band to find out how the rest of the country can get hold of one of their CD’s, my opinion of Feedback escalated out of the stratosphere. Finally a South African Rock band boldly exposing their caring hearts. For every single CD sold by Feedback, two extremely worthy causes get a donation. The Animal Anti Cruelty League and Save the Dolphins, are listed as the two causes that Feedback are giving back to at the end of their fiscal year.
Thus if you are a fan of rock music and would like to support a worthy cause and a worthy band, please log on to www.feedbackband.co.za to order a copy of their CD now!
The best news is that our readers will get the CD at the lower than retail price, at only R70 until the end of November this year. Although Feedback are already looking forward to the trauma caused by fireworks around the country during the months of October and November. Help them to make a worthwhile donation to the SPCA by paying the normal retail price of R100 per CD. Feedback have made a pledge to give the extra R30 to SPCA’s around the country, to help support and feed the traumatized animals of our fireworks displays.
So show that YOU have a heart, by supporting local music that GIVES BACK. When you compare this bands intentions, instantly their competition doesn’t even compare. They are helping to make our world a better place, and in the process, you get to do your Christmas and Holiday shopping early.
Empower FEEDBACK to Feed Back.
to listen to the music first go to
http://www.myspace.com/feedbacksa
Call Centre helps fight cancer, abuse against women & gives jobs August 10, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Disadvantaged women who have been subjected to physical abuse are receiving training and jobs, thanks to the donation of a contact centre, initially for the Shavathon – a national awareness campaign for cancer.The contact centre, donated by ATIO Corporation and Interactive Intelligence, enables organisations like the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) to implement awareness and fundraising drives, such as the Shavathon, Women’s Day initiatives, breast cancer luncheons, etc. These awareness drives are advertised by providing a number for the public to call, which in turn reaches the cause marketing contact centre.
Depending on the project, women from sanctuaries for abused women are employed and receive training to handle calls, faxes and emails, as well as basic secretarial skills. Most of the women have never worked in an office environment before. As a result of the training, five have obtained fulltime employment in other contact centres. According to Noelene Kotschan, MD of marketing agency, Sho-Sho-Loza Marketing, the awareness drives and training for the women would not be possible without the contact centre.
“Before using contact centre technology, we had a traditional switchboard system which could not cope with the call volumes for our cause marketing initiatives,” she says. “Thanks to the contact centre, we’ve also been able to reduce operating costs by about 40%.
This is significant because it means that we can give more money to the beneficiaries.” ATIO was compelled to assist the CANSA Shavathon as the company felt that most people in the community had a personal experience of friends or family affected by cancer. ATIO approached one of its key partners, global IP communications solution provider, Interactive Intelligence to provide the system as its commitment to corporate social investment mirrored ATIO’s.
“Because it is an all-in-one solution, Interactive Intelligence’s system gave the CANSA Shavathon the ability to have one platform for its contact centre and office environment, driving up productivity and reducing integration and maintenance costs,” says Dawn Hollingworth, ATIO’s business development and marketing director.
“The system is also easy to use therefore providing an ideal environment to train agents with a low skills base.” In fact, Hollingworth says that the call centre agents can be trained on the basics of the centre within half a morning. “This enables significant flexibility for all cause projects and gives the trainees a great sense of achievement,” she says.
Dave Paulding, Interactive Intelligence’s regional sales manager for UK and Africa says that being involved in this project is a privilege. “We are delighted to donate our technology and expertise to support organisations doing such admirable work in the community.” Hollingworth further stated that should any other deserving cause be in need of a contact centre solution, they should contact ATIO directly.
Source: Pressportal
Entertain your brain at Sasol Techno X 2008 August 9, 2008
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Science and technology developments are introducing new and exciting career choices for young people. The eight annual Sasol Techno X, taking place from 11-15 August 2008 at the Boiketlong Complex, Sasolburg, is aimed at sharing with learners the endless and exciting possibilities of science and technology.
Read the complete article here.
Pirates Hockey Club Golf Day August 5, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: Golf Day, Hockey, Sports, Sports Club
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ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) is a partial sponsor of the 2008 Pirates Hockey Club golf day – see details below. We’re urging some of our partners to get involved and enjoy a round of golf and then perhaps chat about some of the opportunities for you and your clients to get some exposure in ManufacturingHub.co.za and our industrial reports.
If you would like to participate, the details are as below.
We do have some hole sponsorship opportunities available from R750 a hole should your clients wish to get some extra exposure.
All funds raised go to Pirates Hockey Club.
Event Details Date: 28 August
Time: 11 am start Venue: Parkview Golf Course
R2000 per 4-ball if you pay on the day or R1600 per 4 ball if you pay up front – includes dinner
Pirates Hockey can do an invoice for you
Tournament format - Stableford 4 ball alliance - 2 scores to count
Enquiries – Marc Ashton (082-561-1585) or marc@rival.co.za
About Pirates Hockey Club
Pirates Hockey Club in Greenside is one of the leading hockey setups in Gauteng. Currently the side has 2 international representatives at the Beijing Olympic Games. The club offers hockey to around 100 adult hockey players and another 100 junior and mini players. Pirates Sports Club in Greenside provides facilities for the likes of Roosevelt, King David and Greenside to have access to fields and a hockey astro turf that they do not get at their schools.
About ManufacturingHub.co.za
ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) is an industrial online publication and research company aimed at the South African Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. The site receives approximately 3000 unique visitors each month and continues to provide a valuable source of news and information to the SA Regulated Manufacturing industries.
www.rival.co.za – Corporate Wellness, Industrial Research, Publishing and Design
www.remspeced.co.za - Remedial & Special Education in SA
www.manufacturinghub.co.za – News for the SA Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries
CYA Car Clean July 26, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: Corporate social investment, CSI, CSR, Skills development, small business
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Cyabonga is a young entrepreneur being sponsored by Gauteng based Corporate Wellness, Industrial Research and Publishing company - Rival Industrial CC - as a development initiative. Cyabonga has developed this initiative independently under the guidance of his mentor and has the full support of Rival Industrial CC.
Cyabonga: 078 296-7563
Washing your car on a regular basis can be a bind with hectic lifestyles and petrol increases, so let Cyabonga make a regular carwash schedule part of your routine:
He will accommodate your schedule,
Arrive weekly, biweekly (fortnightly) or monthly depending on your needs,
He will leave not only your cars sparkling, but your driveway tidy too.
BASIC WASH = R30 (full outer cleaning and rinse) IN and OUT WASH = R40 (full outer cleaning and rinse, inner vacuum) SPIT ‘n POLISH = R60 (full outer cleaning and rinse, polish and rims, inner vacuum, inside windows)
AVIS APPOINTS CSR CHAMPION July 24, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Avis has long supported environmental and community upliftment programmes. Now the car rental company has upped its stake in corporate social responsibility(CSR) by appointing Jessica Branco as it’s Sustainability Manager.Avis managing director Wayne Duvenage says Branco’s appointment forms part of Avis’ strategy to play a greater role in investing in its people, local communities and the environment.
“The Sustainability Manager is expected to bring Avis’ vision and philosophy around CSR to life. Her appointment is also about formalising the CSR process and determining the value of Avis’ current CSR activities and sponsorships. “The work we do in this area is difficult to measure and we need to establish what else we should be doing that will be of real benefit to our people, local communities and the environment,” says Duvenage.
Many of the Avis sustainability initiatives involve vehicle sponsorships. What is required at Avis is to formalise many of the contracts it has in place and differentiate between those sponsorships that are conducted for branding opportunities and those that are genuine CSR initiatives. The Sustainability Manager will initially bed all these initiatives down and then investigate further opportunities. Duvenage says CSR is a long-term process that everyone at Avis is encouraged to become involved in. “An example of this was a recent tree-planting ceremony at Thutuka Primary School in Thembisa where Avis Managers took time out of their conference, rolled up their sleeves and actually dug the holes and planted the trees,” he says.
Initiatives such as these form part of the ‘Avis Cares’ strategy, which focuses on improved recycling, community upliftment, internal training and development, and procurement through suppliers made up of previously disadvantaged individuals. In addition, Avis supports several environmental programmes such as the Peace Parks Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Wilderness Leadership School Trust. A key focus area for Branco, is to update and revise Avis’ strategy around minimising the car rental company’s carbon footprint.
This will be in addition to existing projects such as the installation of new wash bays that recycle 80% of water used at the Avis turnaround facilities and the employment of specialists to assist in electricity conservation and waste control. Branco has worked at Avis for 20 years in various managerial positions including global distribution system (GDS) manager, call centre manager and organisational development manager.
Looking forward to her new role, Branco says through Avis she intends to make a difference to the environment and in peoples’ lives. “I feel honoured to be involved in this process. Avis could easily piggy-back on the projects being run by Barloworld, but these are issues so close to our hearts that we want to do so much more than go along for the ride,” she says.
Avis Southern Africa - www.avis.co.za
Contact Information:
Avis Rent a Car
www.avis.co.za
tel: +27 11 971 2368
fax: +27 11 923 3809
Aquila Private Game Reserve mentors community members July 23, 2008
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earl Derman owner of 4 star Aquila Private Game Reserve or fondly referred to by Touwsrivier locals as “champion of the poor” has once again generously contributed towards job creation and social upliftment within the Touwsrivier community. A joint venture by Aquila Private Game Reserve and local training provider - The Nature College saw 11 members of the community awarded Nature Site Guide qualifications.During 6 months of rigorous practical and theoretical in-house training the aspirant candidates were educated on a variety of subjects such as geology, desert ecology, fynbos, birds etc. Aquila Private Game provided their knowledgeable and highly skilled game rangers that acted as mentors to all eleven candidates. The game rangers are all former students of The Nature College and the exceptional standard they acquired from the Nature Guide Development Programme made them model mentors for the talented candidates.
Owner of Aquila Private Game Reserve Searl Derman enthuses, “We at Aquila and indeed The Nature College are incredibly proud of the high standard attained. This project also reiterates that private tourism can offer a substantial boost to economic development in rural areas”.
Johan Fourie, CEO of The Nature College who facilitated the assessments at Aquila stated that this high standard of training and mentorship adds significant value to the experience that the public is offered at the reserve.
On the horizon, Aquila and The Nature College look forward to taking these skills developments further by forming a stronger relationship to ensure that this project will continue to deliver outstanding results. Other initiatives Aquila is involved with on an ongoing basis includes winter soup kitchens and blanket donations.
Aquila will continue to support and mentor graduates from the college and assist the Touwsrivier community to enter the Nature Site Guide market thus providing not only employment but a career.
Contact Information :
Distributed by Smart Strategies on behalf of Aquila Private Game Reserve
Smart Strategies
Cape Town: 
0027 21 788 1744
fax 086 6676278
Web: www.smartstrategies.co.za
Source: PressPortal
Fundisa July 17, 2008
Posted by marcashton in Uncategorized.Tags: ACI, Children, CSI, CSR, Education, Fundisa, Nedbank, Post Office, Standard Bank, STANLIB
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I only learnt about Fundisa today, but I think its a brilliant and AFFORDABLE CSR / Corporate Social Investment project for ordinary South Africans to get involved in.
Basically the Department of Education and the Association for Collective Investments (www.aci.co.za) have gotten together to put together a system where people or businesses can sponsor a childs education for as little as R40 per month.
As your savings in an account are built up the partners involved in the project will then contribute a bonus amount for the savings meaning that it will compound the savings you are making upfront.
You can either nominate a learner (anyone up to 35 years old) or you can adopt a learner from the programme.
It’s important to remember that the system is built along the lines of an investment - the earlier you start, the greater the value that will have accumulated when your elected child will need the funds.
With so many South Africans craving a quality education, here is a seriously effective way of raising funds for them. Already the model has been viewed with envy by other foreign countries and it is highly regarded because the funds that are raised are ONLY used for the purposes for which they are intended rather than squandered by learners who suddenly find themselves with a cash pile.
If you would like to make a donation you can go into any Standard Bank, Stanlib or Nedbank and ask for the relevant forms.
For more info - check out their website - www.fundisa.org.za