Social innovator, cofounder of Dome Coffees and 2000 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year, Patria Jafferies, spoke to David Gibson about adding real value to both sides of the ledger.
It has always been hard for company directors to justify enormous advertising budgets to shareholders in a downturn. It is even harder to defend a decision to contribute to charity over more direct forms of advertising.
But the cofounder of Dome Coffees and 2000 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year, Patria Jafferies, is one who believes the not-for-profit sector offers a strong opportunity for corporate players wanting to communicate to customers and others.
And Ms Jafferies says that for corporates working with the not-for-profit sector, it is not just about making donations.
She strongly believes that money shouldn’t be thrown at charities or others in this sector without proper administration. Rather, Ms Jafferies says, seeing a project through to fruition is more important.
Ms Jafferies is a firm believer that dual board representation across the profit divide can add substantial value to both the corporate firm and cause-based organisations.
This idea of giving back, used as a marketing tool, is at the heart of such notions as ‘social innovation’, a concept that is attracting commercial attention following catastrophes such as the Boxing Day tsunami, she says.
The Perth businesswoman, who following the sale of Dome more than two years ago, now has seats on the boards of Cullen Wines and three not-for-profit organisations, said that while it was true grants were scarce, charities should not ignore crucial human resources.
“It [the tsunami] was like flicking the light switch. Some people who hadn’t been involved with global issues before became involved,” she said.
While some professionals might view not-for-profit directorships as a time-consuming burden, Ms Jafferies said her commitments to non-government organisations delivered real benefits to her business career.
“To me, my skill set in the business world – with very strong personal beliefs on humanity, go together well,” she said.
“After we sold Dome [Coffees] I thought, what are the most important things that I value and that I want to continue carrying on with?”
“Once you get to the top, you no longer get that applause that you get on your way up … and you actually have to look at yourself and ask whether you’re doing it with the right intent. Am I delivering the right outcome, not only to my shareholders but to the greater global community?
“It’s really quite important because it involves looking at yourself as a whole person.”
And the values acquired in philanthropy flow through to being a director. Ms Jafferies said these values helped in business because individuals can’t survive in the corporate world for very long without a sense of corporate responsibility.
More obvious, however, are the benefits that accrue to NGOs able to add a corporate flavour to their management committees.
One of Ms Jafferies’ charitable board positions is at Hope for Children Organisation (HFC). Founded in Perth, HFC assists orphans living with HIV/Aids in Ethiopia through local sponsorship.
Ms Jafferies said part of her self-assessment after the sale of Dome required her to improve her knowledge of the world, something that had helped her to assist the five-year-old organisation.
“Learning to me, whatever age you are, is important … you just need to keep that going. Hope for Children taught me a lot about HIV/Aids that I never knew,” she said.
“I was always a humanitarian, but it [HFC] also taught me that I had skills that I could give them that would ensure that HFC would grow into a strong organisation in the long term.”
“You find a lot of agencies giving grants and aid without strategic planning and without sustainability. I think social innovation and business actually brings the sustainability factor into any cause-related organisation you enter.”
Ms Jafferies is also currently seeking sponsorship towards a stint at Stanford University’s Centre for Social Innovation in the US. There, she hopes to study ideas that help private, corporate and community operating foundations think more strategically about their financial grant decisions.
“I want to do this course at Stanford because I could add more value to all the organisations I work with to actually come out with some new tools to work with in the NGO world.”
Fellow HFC board member and organisation founder, Jacqui Gilmour, said Ms Jafferies was always “thinking globally”.
She said Ms Jafferies was instrumental in setting up their latest push into the US, which they hope will make a substantial difference to HFC’s work.
Both women are adamant, however, that the message for the local business community should be that one of the best ways to help charities such as theirs solve seemingly insurmountable social problems is through strategic organisation combined with sustainable investment.
“I think if you gave a $10 million grant to someone for five years without giving them the skills or the tools to use it, at the end of the five years the money would be gone and there would be no infrastructure to have sustainability,” Ms Jafferies said.
“Whereas at the organisations that I have been involved with, we have aimed for sustainability; because of that we are achieving incredible outcomes.”
Corporate philanthropy remained an underrated component of leadership in the business world, according to Ms Jafferies, who admires the work of staunch art supporter and outgoing Wesfarmers chief executive, Michael Chaney.
“I think Michael [Chaney] understands how important that is because I’d say he’s probably one of those few individuals at the very top who’s very happy.”
Ms Jafferies is also a director at the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Her role here, and the business acumen of fellow director and chief executive of IBM Global Services Australia, Brendon Riley, has been vital in the achieving of an uncommon goal at not-for-profit organisations.
“We actually were able to pay back all our debt and have a surplus,” Ms Jafferies said.
“We’ve got an incredible mix, so in a board meeting we’re looking at bringing business skills to an arts organisation that is actually kicking huge goals, which is fantastic.”
For charities, the benefits of having corporate board representation are clear.
“You have the credibility at that business level. It’s not coming from a not for profit that they know nothing about … you don’t have to sell them the story about who the not for profit is. And it actually develops a better strategic business relationship for the social innovation work you do.”
At the end of the day, however, Ms Jafferies said that it all boiled down to balance.
“Balance of your investment in family and friends and the global community. If you forget those three things, I think you’re missing something.”
