Foundation: after 20 years still going boldly forward

ABN AMRO Foundation saw the light of day on 8 June 2001. As one of the first corporate foundations in the Netherlands, our Foundation blazed the trail by offering employees the opportunity to give back to society. These days, it’s almost standard practice for large organisations to display social responsibility, but at the time it was quite unique and ground-breaking, as Daniëlle Schutgens, former director and founder remembers. “Back then, we were pioneers. A bank with a foundation for volunteering, that was a novelty.”

Conflict of interests

Three years prior, Fortis Bank launched the predecessor Stimulans Comités, which consisted of regional committees that managed their own budgets for local volunteer activities. Thefoundation was created when concerns about a conflict of interests arose. Daniëlle: "Account managers were making project requests at health care institutions where they had an ongoing tender. The independence of volunteer work came under threat. That's why the foundation was created."

That field of tension between volunteer work and commercial interests remains to this day. "We're facing a similar dilemma now," says Ernst Boekhorst, ABN AMRO Foundation's currentdirector. "To what degree do we show clients this unique aspect of our organisation? How much promotion is too much? It's a very fine line."

Team building

When Fortis Bank and ABN AMRO merged in 2010, the foundation was renamed ABN AMRO Foundation. But that wasn't the only change. Project organisation was centralised and team building moved centre stage. Former director Margot van Sluis: "By centralising the organisation of projects, the scale and impact of each project increased. We started linkingprojects to organisational goals, such as talent development and team building, goals that contributed to the merger's success as well.”

Competencies

Nowadays, colleagues can take up to five days a year for study or volunteer work: Banking for Better days. But how do you motivate employees to participate in the projects? Daniëlle:"Actually, relatively many colleagues have an intrinsic desire to do something good for society based on their own competencies. At the same time, volunteering contributes to their own development. A perfect match."

Internal communication about projects plays a key role in motivation too, says Ernst. "You have to get people involved through management and through peers. A little push is all ittakes. At the same time, it's important to stay up to date with what these employees are interested in, because that's always in flux. Take our Indian IT colleagues for example. They want to use their knowledge, but which projects connect to their competencies?"

Every year, thousands and thousands of colleagues volunteer for the Foundation. In 2013 we hit an impressive 13,000. Employees rate these activities with an average of 8.4, and as many as 96% feel they are making an impact by participating.

Opportunities

While the corona crisis has led to challenges, it has opened up new opportunities as well. Ernst: "At first we worried that everything would have to be cancelled, but look at all thecreative projects that have come out of this - Remote Buddy, for instance. Since you can do it from home, there is new interest among colleagues who had never done volunteer work before." The three agree that plenty of opportunities still lie ahead of us. More collaborations, for one. Margot: "Together with other banks or companies, we could pick up some of the projects that smaller foundations are unable to handle." Ernst adds: "We've already begun exploring the options with other banks. Also, we want to solidify our ambitions by improving our independence as a foundation. I think the greatest opportunity of all is that we keep going boldly forward and sharing our projects with the world."

More than meets the eye

After all, each and every project inspires pride, the current and the two former directors agree. "There's a lot more to these projects than meets the eye," Ernst explains. "Takethe class field trip to Sea Life, the sea aquarium in the town of Scheveningen. At first thought you'd assume it's simply an educational field trip, but to those children it was so much more. These kids normally never leave their neighbourhood. They had never even seen the sea before." Margot concludes: "At the heart of it, we’re making time for our fellow human beings and giving them the feeling that they're worth the attention, that they’re seen, heard and valued. Those experiences stay with people for a lifetime."

Volunteers with stories to tell

Would you like to know how our colleague Nicole de Haan started out as a volunteer in the early days, and why she is still active? Or hear about Ugur Yucekaya’s first experiences as a ‘remote buddy’ this year? Their personal stories are on the website.