First National Bank (FNB) is one of the South African banks that measures it success by its contribution to community development, not only by growth in profits.
FNB says its corporate social investment (CSI) projects encompass three elements: maximising growth focus on economic involvement relating to profitability; emotional involvement, ensuring the well-being of staff, customers and the community; and environmental commitment.
The bank allocates 1% of its post-tax profits to its CSI programme. The FNB Fund has allocated R14-million to development projects this year. This is in addition to the more than R12-million that FNB and other FirstRand Group companies have donated to the Business Trust, a fund managed in partnership with the government that focuses on tourism for job creation, capacity building in schools and technical colleges, improving the justice system and controlling malaria.
Although the FNB Fund makes money available to various projects, the vast majority of funds are given to projects that support people, their development and emotional well-being. As a result, special consideration is given to projects involving education, skills training, job creation, health care (specifically HIV/Aids initiatives) and community care.
One of the education projects FNB has been involved in is the Community and Individual Development Association (Cida) City Campus. The bank has donated a renovated office block in the Johannesburg CBD worth more than R40-million to the campus.
In future, this will help to accommodate Cida’s student body, which is expected to grow to 3 000 or more students, all from financially limited backgrounds. All Cida students study for business administration degrees, which will give them the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the companies employing them in the future or in the businesses they will grow themselves.
FNB grants more than R1-million a year to various bridging programmes. This ensures that a greater number of black graduates, especially those in business, accounting and other fields of study focusing on the mathematical sciences, are able to make the transition into an academic environment far from their homes. Institutions that receive funding include Wits Technikon and Rhodes, Stellenbosch, Vista and Cape Town universities.
In an ongoing initiative to stimulate job creation, the bank has contributed to the Siyazisiza Trust, which has been highly successful in a variety of educational and training initiatives, poverty alleviation, job creation and capacity- building in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The trust’s craft products are sold in South Africa and exported to London and New York, generating significant income for rural communities.
Says Zweli Manyathi, CEO at branch delivery: ‘FNB is committed to investing in South African communities. We are proud to be involved in education projects where youths are given opportunities to beat unemployment. Education is key to making this happen.”
One of the overarching obligations in managing the FNB Fund is the resolve to spend money wisely, by helping those organisations already serving the community to run their projects in a sustainable way. These community champions really stretch the funds FNB gives them, ensuring that those they serve receive the highest value from donations.