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Approaches to giving back
Businesses face many important considerations when giving back.
Some leaders evaluate with clear eyes where they can best contribute
“What we've seen, over a long period of time, is that the current models for how an economy should work are broken. They're not serving as many of us as they should.
“So what Vancity has done is to define the systemic issues that we want to lean into, and examine what we can do to effect change. I'll give an example. With respect to our climate commitments, we pretty much already had a zero footprint for our own operations; not quite, but close. We've been carbon neutral for over a decade. We already had sustainable elements in place in our own operations. So our approach became: ‘What are our levers as a financial institution to effect broader change?’ We play a super important role because collectively credit unions and banks control trillions of dollars. What gets funded matters. And so, really thinking about that perspective is how we decided to move to net-zero for our entire lending portfolio by 2040.
“We can't support everything. We're focusing on supporting bigger systemic change elements, and we’ve chosen to get much crisper on our view of what needs to happen for climate, our view on anti-racism, advancing reconciliation, and how we’re going to use the levers that we have to make things a bit better.”
Others prioritize causes with personal meaning and connection
“When choosing a cause to champion, think about what truly resonates with you and your team.
“When my co-founder, Laura Burget, and I started our company in 2017, we were looking for a cause to contribute to in a meaningful way. But there was never anything that was like ‘Oh, this is it!’ But then, Laura was diagnosed with a brain tumour. It was the scariest time for us. Luckily, Laura underwent a successful 10-hour surgery the week before the COVID pandemic lockdown in March 2020.
“When Laura was diagnosed, we partnered with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, for which we are now a national partner in Canada. We donate a portion of net profits to grant wishes for children with brain cancers and tumours, with a goal of granting 100 wishes in five years. It’s a cause that is near and dear to us, whereas if we just picked something random, it wouldn’t make sense to consumers, our team or our investors. If you let your authentic experiences guide the causes you support, it can inspire your team and show you're about more than the bottom line.”
Social impact can't be a passing fad, and opportunism is a really bad look
“Giving back is not only appropriate, it’s essential. And you can’t do good only when it is comfortable. You have to do it when it’s hard, too. If the first thing you do when times get hard is cut support of your communities, that sends a message to your employees, and to others, that what you were doing was fake, that it was extra, that you don’t believe it is a core part of your business. Your front-line heroes are seeing you cut out money from the community, and they're going to wonder, ‘What else will they cut? Is the culture of the company really so liquid and fluid? Do I belong here?’
“Business people are there to deal with challenges, and the first solution should not be cutting community support. I am a capitalist. I want to make a profit. But there is a better way to do it. When you make giving back part of the company’s purpose, it will make your business more sustainable and longer-lasting, in every way. It’s not just a nice theory. It’s a recipe for success.”
Idealism is important, but pragmatism can be what actually gets things done
“I’ve come to learn that you can't have everybody in the room if you're trying to solve a big, complex problem. You can only have the people in the room who want to solve the problem.
“For example, we do a lot of work with the electric vehicle industry, the electricity sector, and the hydrogen industry. These are people that see the opportunity for change. Bringing them together with environmental groups, governments, and academia—that all feels very doable. So that's where I'm focusing my work right now.
“You have to figure out who you want to work with. I think leadership is very much about making the tough decisions around who you think can be in a room to have these conversations, and who might want to be in a room but only to disrupt the conversations. And that applies to both sides of a polarized issue.”
Today's leaders contribute with intent
Giving back is not just a hobby for Colin Lynch—it’s part of his identity. Through his day job as Managing Director and Head of Global Real Estate Investments at TD Asset Management, and through his many volunteer pursuits (he is the Co-Founder of Black Opportunity Fund, among other things), he has come to understand the most effective ways for businesses to get involved.
Authentic support matters more than the amount of support...and the CEO needs to speak up.
Authenticity for leaders
Authenticity matters in business today—in how businesses contribute, and how they are led. But what, exactly, does it mean to be an authentic leader?
“To me, authenticity means being the same person in the boardroom that I am when I’m dropping my kids off at school.”
President & CEO, Roots Corp.
“Authentic leadership means congruency between intention, words and actions.”
Managing Director, TD Asset Management
“Authentic leadership to me means honesty with my team, and with external partners, as well. We as leaders need to be able to sometimes say we are having a hard time, or tired, or burnt out; to say ‘you know, there are days where this is really hard for me, so I'm sure there's days when it's hard for you, too.’ For too long leaders have had to take on a bulletproof, ‘I have it all together’ persona. And I don’t think anybody actually feels that way.”
President & CEO, Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB)
“I don't think that there’s a singular way that the term ‘authentic leadership’ has been captured today. To me, it's just a mishmash phrase, one that people sometimes use to convey moral superiority. But what does it mean on a Monday morning at 8:30? If you’re having a really bad day, can you take it out on your people? Because that would be incredibly authentic. But it wouldn’t be great leadership.”
Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Borden Chair of Leadership at Smith School of Business
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