Social responsibility: a CIO function
According to a survey by market research firm AMR Research, CIOs aren't taking an active enough role in their companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Often, the data and information needed to prioritize CSR investments and measure its impact are spread across organizations in disparate systems and databases. It's the CIO's responsibility to take ownership of this problem. For example, a successful CSR initiative would include information accessed from a company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system--something CIOs should recognize and incorporate. But as companies realize the business benefits, CSR is becoming a front-of-mind issue for many organizations. That should change the way that CIOs view CSR over time.
For more about the importance of CSR:
- read the article at ZDNet
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By Tom Hsieh | Posted 4:51pm | April 10, 2007
Wouldn't it be great to cut-costs while furthering corporate social
responsibility?
Affinity programs are effective ways for companies to benefit non-profits without spending additional money. An example is the Non-profit Affinity Program created by SplinterRock, Inc.. With SplinterRock's affinity program, SplinterRock will give 30% of its (recurring and non-recurring) revenue for the business that is referred to SplinterRock by a non-profit, back to the non-profit.
SplinterRock, Inc. is a consulting and telecom brokerage firm. It’s network of consultants work with enterprises to assess their telecom and technology needs. It then has carriers and service providers submit quotes to bid for the enterprises telecom and technology services. (SplinterRock has business relationships with over 100 different carriers and service
providers.) The bidding process (as well as SplinterRock's aggregate volume) often results in more aggressive quotes than the enterprise would find going to a carrier directly.
For bringing new business to the carrier, SplinterRock is paid by the service provider. Most often this is a residual commission on the monthly recurring charges billed to the enterprise. In the case where the enterprise was referred to SplinterRock through a participating non-profit, SplinterRock will give 30% of its commissions to the non-profit.
Let me give you an example of how this works. Recently, a member of a local non-profit heard about this program, and referred the name of a technology decision maker for a regional merchandiser headquartered in Chatsworth, CA with an active webstore. This merchandiser was looking for server hosting and managed services for their webstore. SplinterRock engaged the decision-maker by presenting him with several competing quotes from top-name hosting providers and helped to negotiate pricing and services. The merchandiser ultimately signed a three year contract with RackSpace, Ltd., of San Antonio, TX. Now, because the original referral came through the affinity program, SplinterRock will be giving several hundreds of dollars to that local non-profit each month for the next three years and as long as the merchandiser remains with RackSpace.
The beauty of programs like this one is that it is a win-win all around. The enterprise often ends up paying less for services that it will pay for anyways.
The service provider gains new business and a new client. And the non-profit receives a stream of steady funding.