Give Back: the opportunity to turn experience and knowledge into impact

We just need to know "when" and "how" to put everything we have at the service of others. This is "Giving Back". And how can we do it?

Winston Churchill said: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give". When so much is given to us, it's natural to want to "give back" to society. Today it is clear that skills volunteering has a global impact and reach - social, personal and business. When companies get involved in giving back to society, they broaden their networking, empower their employees and this contributes to their good reputation - it's a great marketing tool for the company (Forbes, "The importance of Giving Back", 2022, Dave Cantin, Chairman & CEO Dave Cantin Group). For people, "giving back" means gaining a new purpose, having an additional sense of fulfillment.

In this process of giving back, exchanging and sharing, everyone benefits. Volunteers share their good management practices, their skills and their time with social organizations, but receive back unique experiences of human competence, motivation and personal improvement, areas in which social organizations are truly leaders.

But can executives also provide services and make volunteering work? Yes, through the Social Leadership for Managers - a Nova SBE program, in partnership with BPI and the "LaCaixa" Foundation, which helps identify private sector executives who can and want to play an active role in the world of social organizations. In an organized, systematic and effective way.

According to the European Parliament's Special Eurobarometer 75.2 (2011), 24% of Europeans engage in some kind of regular or occasional voluntary activity, with this figure split equally between men and women. This table is led by the Netherlands, where around 57% of adults regularly volunteer. Portugal, according to the same study, has around 12% of its adult population contributing, followed by Poland with 9%, which closes the list.

It's up to each one of us to change this scenario by nurturing a new culture of active volunteering, passing on to future generations the importance of their contribution as active citizens.

Giving back is the choice to make. It's the right choice. But not everyone knows when and how to start. Imagine that you work in a company, or that you used to, that you have years of accumulated experience, that you are looking for new challenges and a purpose to add to your life. "Now" is the "when". Not tomorrow, not in a few months' time. It's "now".

And "how"? There are various ways of contributing. Everyone has to choose the one that best suits their profile, their availability and their goals. To support executives and guide them on their volunteer journey, Nova SBE's training program covers topics such as the framework and specific knowledge in the social economy sector, governance, legal framework, fundraising, impact measurement, among others.

In three simple steps, the executives begin their journey:

1. Learn: theoretical training, which aims to provide executives from the private sector with the appropriate framework on the social economy sector

2. Apply: the program includes the participation and testimony of social organizations that share their good practices and a visit by participants to a social organization.

3. Engage: At the end of the program, the participants will be followed up as members of an advisory board in a social organization.

Since 2020, the program has grown and created ties with its community: advisors and mentors, social organizations, social networks, academia and companies. It is currently taught at Nova SBE and Católica Porto Business School, with the aim of being a comprehensive program and expanding to all geographies in the country. It already has more than 200 participants, 100 of whom have joined the advisory boards of social organizations, contributing their volunteering skills, experiences and networks.

Because we can all contribute to the future of Social Leadership in Portugal, and because we believe that by creating bridges between social organizations, academia and companies, we contribute to the implementation of modernized, efficient and sustainable management models, and above all, suitable for the social economy sector. We look forward to seeing you!

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This article was written by Maria Castro e Almeida, Consultant and Member of the Board of the Inclusive Community Forum at Nova SBE, and Rita Diniz, Manager of the Social Leadership for Managers program, Leadership for Impact - Knowledge Center at Nova SBE.