On Tuesday 14^th June, our graduates attended an in-person event at our head office in Huckletree. One of our previous For Purpose graduates, Claire Sinnott, spoke to our current graduates about her role as a Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for Lidl Ireland. This was an insightful learning seminar for our graduates in the nonprofit sector. They learned about the pillars of CSR, what good CSR looks like and the incentives Irish organisations have developed to become more socially responsible.

 

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

Claire described Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a self-regulating business model that helps companies to be socially accountable to itself, its employees, stakeholders, and the general public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society. Corporate Social Responsibility has become more impactful in recent years as social impact is a pressing issue, particularly for young people.

 

What is good Corporate Social Responsibility?

Claire shared some examples of good Corporate Social Responsibility. The Guinness family are a great example of good CSR, even before it was a business concept. They looked after staff generously, invested in their local community and provided accommodation for their employees.  They understood what it meant to be a great family run business with a sincere impact.

 

Another example of positive Corporate Social Responsibility is Patagonia, the clothing brand. They make products with the aim that you’ll only need to purchase one item. This provides a much more sustainable brand, prioritising their Corporate Social Responsibility over profits.

 

Lidl Ireland’s Charity Partners

Claire then continued to discuss her experience as a Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Lidl Ireland. Lidl partnered with Irish nonprofit organisation, Jigsaw. They work together to produce mental health campaigns to help tackle Irish mental health issues. This charity partnership works for a variety of reasons.

The value of Corporate Social Responsibility for both nonprofits and communities:

• Both the organisation and the nonprofit have a shared interest in tackling social issues, which can be addressed together.
• Collaboration between fundraising managers and corporate social responsibility managers can achieve both business goals and address social issues
• Organisations can provide value to local communities by providing office space for social engagement activities, youth clubs, groups and more. Companies can therefore have a connection to the local community which could lead to further outreach programmes.

 

Main Takeaways

Claire finished the session by discussing what Corporate Social Responsibility is not. It is not a marketing technique that can be used by organisations’ for a positive brand image. It is about positive outreach and organising outreach programmes that actually make an impact.

This was an extremely beneficial session for our graduates. They learned about Corporate Social Responsibility in great detail, received fantastic tips from Claire Sinnott, our previous For Purpose Graduate and networked with each other. Providing support for graduates during their roles through learning seminars and exposure to other nonprofit graduates is crucial at For Purpose.

 

We would like to thank Claire and all of our graduates who participated at our in-person event. We look forward to our next session! For more information on For Purpose Tuesdays, click here or contact Rhonda Wynne, Head of For Purpose.

On 12^th April, we welcomed our graduates to the first For Purpose Tuesdays in-person event. Our event took place in our head office, Huckletree on Pearse Street. Eilís, our Brand & Content Manager, and Shannon, Recruitment Coordinator, launched our new For Purpose LinkedIn group. We had a fantastic morning mingling with our graduates, learning about their roles, networking and participating in peer-learning.

LinkedIn Group Launch

Our morning began with a presentation explaining the benefits of using LinkedIn for professional development. Many of our graduates currently have a LinkedIn profile, but do not use the platform to its full extent. Eilís outlined reasons we should continually use LinkedIn for networking, learning and career inspiration. She also shared some nonprofits who are currently active on LinkedIn and encouraged our graduates to follow them.

Shannon described what a great LinkedIn profile looks like from a recruitment perspective. She highlighted areas to focus on to improve your own personal branding and the importance of useful LinkedIn connections.

The presentation finished with the launch of our new For Purpose LinkedIn group. We were thrilled to share our LinkedIn group with our For Purpose graduates.

This group will facilitate:

• Shared resources
• Learning from peers
• Assisting professional development
• Tight knit community
• Relevant discussions
• Connections with past and present graduates

We shared the link to join our For Purpose LinkedIn group amongst our graduates, with an interactive poll to kickstart our discussion. We hope to share articles, webinars, courses, podcasts, videos and more content within our LinkedIn group.

 

Peer Learning and Networking

Hereafter, the Management Team from 2into3 joined our session. This gave the graduates a chance to network with professionals, having 20-30 years’ experience working within the nonprofit sector. Networking is a crucial element of our in-person events.

We are delighted to commence in- person events with our graduates. It was a fantastic chance for our graduates to network, join our new LinkedIn group, share their own projects and converse with each other. We look forward to our next session!

More information on For Purpose Tuesdays, or contact Rhonda Wynne directly.

On Wednesday 23^rd February, the For Purpose team attended gradireland live. Gradireland is the perfect opportunity for students across Ireland to meet with prospective employers, discuss graduate programmes and consider career options.

For Purpose gradireland live 2022

Our Head of For Purpose, Rhonda and our Recruitment Coordinator, Shannon, met with students and explained different aspects of our programme. Several students had similar queries, some of which are listed below.

 

When can I apply to For Purpose?

Firstly, many students had queries surrounding when you can apply to For Purpose and if our roles were degree-specific. Our Graduate Programme is different to others in that there are job opportunities on a rolling basis throughout the year. Furthermore, most of our roles are not degree specific (unless specified). We consider relevant degree modules, work experience, personality and most importantly, your passion for the nonprofit sector.

Our team also provided advice to our students. It is important to read the desired skills of each role we advertise and how it matches to your skills and experience. Our team encourages students to wait until you are almost finished your degree, as we have graduate jobs available on a rolling basis. Most of our roles commence immediately!

 

What skills are required to work in the nonprofit sector?

Empathy, social understanding, interest in social justice. If you’re working for a nonprofit, you are working with a team to solve a social issues and you may work with individual who are vulnerable, requiring patience and understanding.

It is extremely important to have a genuine interest in the position you apply for, as this passion will drive you to succeed in your role.

 

Thanks to everyone who attended gradireland Live on Wednesday. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all and hope to see your applications for positions in 2022! More information on our programme here or contact Rhonda Wynne.

Investing in a Graduate with For Purpose

The Irish nonprofit sector provides crucial work to our social system. Since the pandemic, the sector faces many challenges and added stresses. Therefore, in order to respond to these challenges, building further capacity within the sector is necessary. Considering recruiting a graduate may be of particular benefit to your organisation and the future of the nonprofit sector.

Recruiting graduate students could have a transformative impact on the nonprofit sector, enhancing innovation through new ideas, energies, and perspectives, and building strategic capacity and insight through specialist skills.

Many private companies have developed graduate programmes. However, certain nonprofit organisations do not have the resources to recruit, train and support their own graduates. We wanted to provide a solution to this problem. The For Purpose Graduate Programme was then established in 2012.

About For Purpose

Why should my organisation consider a graduate?

Graduates provide a unique benefit to your organisation through their skills, ways of working and perspectives. For Purpose asked a sample of their employer partners about the value of recruiting graduates and what they can bring to an organisation.

Some particular benefits noted was the access to:

• Specialised and relevant skills
• Current information and education
• New or cutting-edge knowledge
• Relevant disciplinary expertise
• Academic knowledge which translates to work skills
• Research capability: recent experience of doing research, analysis, data management, report writing
• IT skills and social media savvy
• New ideas and perspectives
• Openness in ways of working – no hangs up or preconceived ideas about set ways or systems for doing things
• Diverse ways of thinking
• Approach to work: scientific method and good organisational skills
• Social skills working with graduates
• Communication and presentation skills which are valuable and necessary when out front representing organisations
• Values and commitment to social justice matters

By investing in a current graduate with these specific skills, you will not only provide value to your current team, but also provide a greater impact on the future of the nonprofit sector.

Why partner with For Purpose?

For Purpose assists nonprofits in attracting graduate talent in numerous ways. We liaise with our partner organisations to learn what works with the programme. We ask our partners how the balance of work will suit the employer and the graduate.

For Purpose asked employers about the value of collaborating with For Purpose. Employers noted how the support For Purpose provided with the recruitment process saved time, as For Purpose screened the candidates and selected on the basis of skillsets and interests. Our partners were pleased with the calibre of candidate recruited, and the contribution the graduates made to their teams.

Employers particularly valued the external mentor and access to support, guidance and expertise, which is not available within their own organisation. A key dimension of the programme is the ongoing professional development provided through learning seminars, with access to peers in other organisations.

Previous employees describe For Purpose Graduate Programme

Colette Nolan, CEO, Peer Advocacy in Mental Health (formerly known as Irish Advocacy Network):

“We are a small organisation, all about providing a quality service. Funding has been static, so we needed to take a more active role in fundraising and looking at our presence in the media. It is necessary to create an awareness of who you are for people to trust you with their money. We didn’t have much knowledge or experience of this area.

We went to a graduate fair in the RDS and realised that people make professions out of these areas, and it would be possible to recruit a graduate to work with us. For Purpose provided a one stop shop helping to develop the role and job description, advertise, and interview. An organisation like ours couldn’t provide anything like the mentoring support that they support the graduate and the organisation. Therefore, this was of value to a small organisation, particularly bringing a completely new role into the organisation.”

 

Stephen Lowry, Fundraising and Development Manager, Epilepsy Ireland:

“We recently engaged the For Purpose team to run and manage a recruitment campaign to fill a newly available graduate position within our team. From our very first meeting with the team at For Purpose, they made the process incredibly easy. Having simply given them a broad overview of the role itself and the general competencies we were seeking from prospective candidates, from there the For Purpose team took complete responsibility for every stage of the process including drafting the job specification, advertising the role, screening applications as well as preparing us for the final stage interviews.

At the interviews themselves, the real value of For Purpose became apparent as each of the shortlisted candidates they had invited for interview were nothing short of exceptional. While this made the decision around which candidate to select an extremely tough choice for us (which perhaps was the only hard part of the whole experience) this was not a bad complaint to have. We were delighted with the entire process and could not recommend the services of For Purpose more highly.”

Support Your Graduate Investment

We have developed a support document to justify the investment to your board, if you’re interested in investing in a graduate and want to make a business case. For details, contact Rhonda Wynne or for more information on our services, visit our website.

On Tuesday 9^th November, For Purpose kicked off their third session of For Purpose Tuesdays. A huge thank you to Rob Foley, Senior Consultant at 2into3, who spoke to our graduates about the Fundraising Landscape in Ireland. Much of Rob’s work centres on relationship-based fundraising campaigns, wider strategy development and board engagement. Rob presented his strategic fundraising process, and asked our graduates about the future of fundraising in their respective nonprofit organisations.

2into3 work with mission-driven organisations to build capacity, so that they can have a transformative impact on society in Ireland and the world. 2into3 help in early stage strategy implementation and guide clients through early prospect identification and fundraising.

Rob Foley works with nonprofits to transform their fundraising strategy, supporting organisations through the fundraising journey from assessing the level of funding required, to developing the optimal fundraising mix. We were delighted that Rob attended our For Purpose Tuesdays session to chat to our graduates about fundraising in their nonprofit organisations.

 

For Purpose- Fundraising Session

During yesterday’s session, the graduates were placed into breakout rooms to brainstorm ideas for future fundraised income. The graduates proposed fantastic ideas from increasing fundraised income in communities, to developing greater brand awareness for each nonprofit sector. Placing our graduates into breakout rooms introduced an incentive to discuss fundraising knowledge and develop ideas for the future of the nonprofit sector.

For Purpose Tuesdays has been an excellent opportunity for our graduates to build a rapport with their peers, whilst gaining knowledge from sector leaders. Our final session of 2021 will take place next month, on the second Tuesday of December. Thanks a million to all of our graduates for participating, and to Rob for hosting this session.

For more information on For Purpose Tuesdays, visit our recent news item, or contact Rhonda Wynne at Rhonda.wynne@forpurpose.ie.