Community Investment and Social Investment Strategies

Avoiding the pitfalls

There are invariably “disconnects” between stakeholder expectations and priorities at national and local community levels, and even within local communities.

• Menas' access to government, industry, local community leaders, and NGOs, ensures that a distinction is made between key stakeholders and 'rent-seekers', so that the former's opinions and needs are integrated into the client's community investment strategy.
  
  
• We can review a company's international operations and benchmark its community participation and investment performance against best practice.
  
  
• We can support clients with the design and implementation of pilot projects, and with the formation of strategic partnerships.

Managing the intangibles

Although community investment can be characterised as the management of intangibles, Menas' approach is to evaluate options and identify preferred options for implementation on the basis of solid data and qualitative analysis. This management process requires the same discipline as the analysis of technical and financial information.

We take the same approach on implementation – recommended community investment programmes will be supported by clear management principles and processes, including:

• Dependable corporate management systems to support identified commitments and goals
  
  
• Performance measures and monitoring mechanisms
  
  
• Verification processes
  
  
  
• Reporting structures