The Smith Family with ANZ

FROM THE JUDGES:

Really good nomination. Strong alignment of values and excellent results.”

RESULTS + IMPACT

• 41% increase in the number of ANZ employees supporting The Smith Family through workplace giving (wpg)
• ANZ’s wpg donations increased from $84,050 to $220,123
• 20 additional children sponsored by ANZ employees

 OVERVIEW + HIGHLIGHTS

• The Smith Family (TSF) is Australia’s leading children’s education charity helping young Australians in need to participate fully in their education. They are on the ground in 91 communities, working with nearly 700 partner schools across Australia. Around 56,000 students are sponsored in TSF’s flagship ‘Learning for Life’ program.
• Established in 1835, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) provides banking and financial services to retail, commercial and institutional customers. ANZ is among the top four banks in Australia and the top 50 banks in the world. ANZ’s purpose is to help shape a world where people and communities thrive, focusing on three priority areas: financial wellbeing, environmental sustainability and housing.
• ANZ and TSF’s shared-value partnership seeks to enhance the financial capability of Australians in need. Wpg is engrained in ANZ’s culture with internal messaging to employees regarding TSF’s work integrated into Business As Usual activities/initiatives. ANZ introduces TSF to employees during on-boarding and they encourage employees to ‘opt in’ to wpg and choose from 29 charities. ANZ’s target for ‘Learning for Life’ sponsorship via wpg is incorporated into their ‘Financial Wellbeing’ public target ‘to enable social and economic participation of 1 million people by 2020’.
• Understanding ANZ’s CSR strategy and finding the alignment to TSF’s vision was the first important step in creating the partnership. TSF’s mission to help young disadvantaged Australians succeed at school to create better futures for themselves has clear links to ANZ’s ‘Financial Wellbeing’ agenda. In addition to sponsoring ‘Learning for Life’ students through wpg, many ANZ staff also volunteer to directly support TSF’s education programs being delivered to students and families.
• Once the strategic partnership was formed, both parties defined key partnership objectives and KPIs so that success could be articulated and measured. They created a wpg plan, communications/media plan and employee engagement activity plan, which included a call to action from ANZ’s CEO during Workplace Giving Month. During regular catch ups these plans were adjusted to take account of the changing landscape during 2019/20.
• Other ways in which ANZ staff supported TSF included by donating gifts and volunteering to pack for TSF’s 2019 Christmas Toy & Book Appeal and participating in TSF’s wpg strategic review.