Case study
Supporting charitable causes
A cast iron commitment
to corporate responsibility
helps build a better world
BT and its people tap the power of digital
communications to support charitable causes
right around the globe
Making a difference
BT believes passionately that commercial
success and corporate responsibility go hand
in hand. A cherished goal is to help build a
more sustainable, educated, socially inclusive
world. Not because BT thinks it can change
things on its own, but because it knows it
can make a difference – widening digital
access and fostering new skills, supporting
emergency appeals, and encouraging social
and economic development.
None of this would happen without
investment. Supporting charities is the
lifeblood of the BT corporate responsibility
(CR) strategy. One per cent of pre-tax
profit goes into programmes to benefit
communities and the environment every
single year (more than £27 million in
2010/11). BT also helps others to raise
millions. Its activities run from national
telethons to selected charity projects
worldwide. And from a free online
fundraising platform to widespread
payroll giving by staff.
The need for timely and effective intervention
has never been greater. Household budgets
are stretched and people are watching the
pennies. The UK third sector is under pressure
to raise its public contribution and provide
more services. So BT funding initiatives need
to be more thoughtfully targeted and skilfully
executed than ever before.
A critical role in charity
fundraising
The aspect of the BT CR strategy that gets
the highest public profile is working with
charity partners to raise large sums for
disaster relief. The company’s telethon track
record – supporting BBC Children in Need,
Comic Relief, and the Disasters Emergency
Committee appeals – stretches back decades.
Major disasters are hard to foresee. Relief
agencies must act quickly to save lives,
stop the spread of disease, and provide
emergency food and shelter. When time is
of the essence, BT stands ready to spring
into action and support fundraising efforts
on a huge scale working with the Disasters
Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella
group representing thirteen UK charities
such as Oxfam and Save the Children.
BT has worked with the DEC since before
the turn of the century to help deliver its
telethon appeals – helping to raise money
quickly and securely through technology
solutions and volunteer support.
Televised appeals were made in 2011
following the crisis in East Africa and in 2010
following record monsoon floods in Pakistan
and the devastating Haiti earthquake. The
DEC was able to raise £71 million and bring
aid to more than 1.8 million Pakistanis, and
£106 million for a similar number of the
homeless, destitute and injured in Haiti.
BT also works with other charities to support
the most needy across the world. Hence
its long-standing partnership with Comic
Relief, supporting Red Nose Day and Sport
Relief. In 2011, the latter raised £74 million,
with BT volunteers across the UK on hand to
take calls. BT staff and customers added over
£350,000. And BT sponsored the BT Red
Nose Desert Trek, featuring nine celebrities
Case study
Supporting charitable causes
“It feels like there’s a real
partnership between BT and
the organisations it helps – one
based on shared values, open
communication, excellent
project management, and shared
determination to evaluate and
improve every time.”
Alison Braybrooks
Associate Director
Corporate Citizenship
in a gruelling journey, and donated 1p for
every call made from a BT home phone or
payphone on Chat for Change day.
“BT and its people have been supporting Red
Nose Day since the very beginning,” says
Michele Settle, marketing director of Comic
Relief. “After all these years, we really couldn’t
imagine doing it without them. This incredible
effort helps us raise millions of pounds.”
A third strand in the BT telethon portfolio
springs from requests from new partners,
who are keenly aware of BT’s expertise in
facilitating live appeals. During 2010, an
appeal for Soccer Aid raised more than
£2 million for children’s charity UNICEF;
another brought in £500,000 for the
BBC Wildlife Fund.
Proactive support for
emergency workers
BT provides critical technologies on the
ground, too. In its work with the British Red
Cross, BT has funded satellite, GPS, and IT
equipment for field workers since 2007. The
ability to get through without delay played
a vital role in mobilising aid for Haiti, where
the Red Cross was one of the first on the
scene. And it’s helped the Red Cross in other
places worldwide, such as Uganda, Djibouti,
Lesotho, and Nepal.
Offices worldwide
The services described in this publication are subject to
availability and may be modified from time to time. Services
and equipment are provided subject to the respective British
Telecommunications plc standard conditions of contract.
Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract. The
meaning of the word partner or partnership in this case study
does not give rise to a partnership as defined in the Partnership
Act 1890 or other relevant law.
© British Telecommunications plc 2011.
Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ
Registered in England No: 1800000
10/11
Richard North, a Red Cross emergency
response unit team leader, comments:
“Satellite phones funded by BT were
critical to rapidly getting aid to survivors in
Haiti. Having the latest and most suitable
technology in our hands meant as we arrived
we could literally hit the ground running.”
Global charity partnerships
take off
A country charity partners scheme, launched
in 2009, has a growing importance in the
BT strategic CR mix. Projects funded across
the globe recognise BT’s global presence by
supporting charity partnerships in countries
where the company operates.
Projects outside the UK are carefully
chosen to align with wider BT objectives
and provide volunteering opportunities.
They include sports, training, and outward-
bound activities in Benelux, France, and
Hong Kong. The aims here are to improve
self-confidence, communication and social
skills, and community and environmental
awareness among young people.
In Germany, Spain and the US, the accent is
on educational projects to enhance digital
literacy, understanding of ICT, and job
prospects. Additional country partnership
projects are in the pipeline for Brazil and
India. In the latter country BT already has two
long-established education programmes.
Counting on BT staff
commitment
In BT the corporate responsibility ethos
runs from top to bottom, and its people
show their generosity in several ways. They
contributed 49,000 days – or more than
130 years – of volunteering to UK schools
and charities in 2010/11. The BT Give As
You Earn scheme, enabling tax-efficient
payroll donations to any charity, raised £2.6
million in the UK. BT has similar schemes in
the US and Ireland. The total was boosted
by £1 million of corporate funds in addition
to BT covering all costs. And some 11,000
BT staff took part.
“The BT payroll scheme is providing
Barnardo’s with a vital source of regular
income,” says Stephen Noble, head of
workplace giving at the charity. “This means
we can continue our work at the heart of local
communities, making a lasting difference to
many of the UK’s most vulnerable children
and young people.”
Channelling the power of
online giving
BT’s continued commitment to the third
sector is shown by the launch of MyDonate,
which builds on the expertise of its eDonate
telethon platform. It’s a free online service
for UK charities, allowing fundraisers
to create and customise event pages to
promote, say, a sponsored walk or bungee
jump. It’s free for charities and donors alike,
and any donations can be Gift-Aided.
David Cosham, chief executive of KidsOut,
a UK charity supporting disadvantaged
children, explains: “Online fundraising
websites have fundamentally changed the
way people raise money for charities like
ours. This new BT service helps support the
magnificent work of fundraisers. And the
simplicity of MyDonate makes it easier to gain
maximum exposure for fundraising events.”
A positive balance
BT’s core expertise is in communications.
That’s why it’s a leader in the digital
networked economy. Using the skills,
expertise, and talents of BT people is the
best way for the company to help charities
large and small. BT people are inspired to
contribute at every level, from fundraising for
corporate charity partners, supporting causes
close to their own hearts, giving through
their pay, volunteering at telethons, or
providing essential equipment and advice
as part of the dedicated BT Emergency
Response Team.
That’s why one of BT’s core values is heart.
It’s certainly not industry hype. A recent
independent assessment of the comany’s
work with telethon partners by the global
corporate responsibility consultancy,
Corporate Citizenship, accorded BT a
perfect 100 per cent across 16 criteria
including project management, shared
learning, and more.
Alison Braybrooks, associate director of
Corporate Citizenship, concludes: “It feels
like there’s a real partnership between BT
and the organisations it helps – one based
on shared values, open communication,
excellent project management, and shared
determination to evaluate and improve
every time.”