Taking a strategic approach to social impact can ensure their corporate giving is making maximum impact. This means that companies take a longer term and planned approach to corporate giving, targeting specific societal needs in a way that utilises core business competencies and support business competencies. Examples of taking a strategic approach include having longer-term partnerships, involving skilled or expert volunteering by employees and measuring impacts.

In this webcast, we hear from Mr Shahril Azuar Jimin, CEO of Maybank Foundation, on how the organisation approaches social impact as part of their 20/20 Sustainability Plan. We focus particularly on one of their flagship programmes, Reach Independence & Sustainable Entrepreneurship (RISE), a structured programme providing entrepreneurship training and mentoring for people with disabilities. In its fifth year, RISE currently operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos, where more than 6,000 participants successfully increased their income by an average of 340% among the top 40% trained.

Issues discussed:

1. Why is it important for Maybank Foundation to develop a strategy for your approach to social impact?
2. How did you identify the community needs? And why did you feel Maybank was uniquely placed to address these needs?
3. Strong partnerships are so important for social impact. How does Maybank Foundation select its community partners and what makes a strong partnership?
4. People are often hesitant to talk about the business benefits of their community programmes, but as mentioned previously, understanding these benefits is crucial to the long-term viability of your strategy. What are some of the business benefits that RISE has helped achieve?