Insight

No silver bullet for CSI success, but a plan helps

2 April 2012

This year, the Serious Social Investing workshop was held on 14 and 15 March 2012 at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Johannesburg.

No singular national CSI plan or body can replace the need for well-defined strategies and the nuance of multi-faceted development, says Tshikululu Social Investments CEO Tracey Henry in this excerpt from her keynote address to the 2012 Serious Social Investing workshop.

Social investment long ago moved away from the ‘heart of giving’ to the science of strategic social investment. How we go about this on a daily basis may seem challenging at times, especially in a country with such vast needs and opportunities.  

No more excuses – the NSC results of 2011 (two)

7 March 2012

Comparing provincial performance statistics with the numbers of learners enrolling in maths, science and accounting is revealing.

Tshikululu is delighted to publish this comprehensive analysis of the latest NSC results, carefully researched and written by Trustee of the Epoch and Optima Trusts, Margie Keeton.

Please note that what follows is part two of her 2011 analysis. Read part one here.

‘Flat-lining’ learning

So much for basic pass rates. When we begin to look at the quality of passes, we find an even more depressing picture, thanks to Umalusi’s detailed statistics which break achievement levels down into 10 per cent intervals in over 50 subjects.  

No more excuses – the NSC results of 2011 (one)

6 March 2012

Comparing provincial performance statistics with the numbers of learners enrolling in maths, science and accounting is revealing.

Tshikululu is delighted to publish this comprehensive analysis of the latest NSC results, carefully researched and written by Trustee of the Epoch and Optima Trusts, Margie Keeton.

Please note that what follows is part one of her 2011 analysis. Read part two.

Every year, the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results are anxiously awaited and hastily scrutinised before politicians and pundits pronounce on them. In a now familiar litany, the Minister of Basic Education reassures the nation that we are gaining ground.  

Women in leadership

1 March 2012

‘None will succeed without us. Nothing about us without us.’ – Graça Machel

Cassandra Twala, Tshikululu Executive Assistant,considers the role of the ‘fairer gender’ in business, and in leadership.

‘17 years after the birth of democracy, South Africa still continues its struggle to achieve gender transformation and equality in the workplace. At a time when we celebrate the first woman to be appointed chief executive of the JSE in Nikki Newton-King … women hold only 4.4% of chief executive or managing director positions, 5.3% of chairperson positions, and 15.8% of all directorships’ – Mail & Guardian Book of South African Women  

Dangerous assumptions about admitting failure

14 February 2012

Engineers Without Borders Canada's fourth annual Failure Report. PR exercise or innovative internal learning document?

In the last six months, debate surrounding admitting failure in development work has escalated, swinging periodically between two “absolutelys” – yes and no. Tshikululu’s senior communications specialist, Gina de Villiers, discovers that the concept itself could be doomed to failure.

No one is arguing that increased transparency and knowledge about the realities of working in development would be a bad thing. In fact, in this debate, that’s probably all that everyone agrees upon.

The organisations admitting failure very publicly, and creating platforms on which others can do the same (see www.admittingfailure.com, the website launched by Engineers Without Borders Canada), assert that better clarity and communication is exactly what lies at the heart of this movement.

Those calling the movement a fad and the phrase a “meaningless buzzword” have pointed out that a noble cause could become one that is dangerous to development’s millions of beneficiaries, should funding be threatened.  

CSI Insight – the top 11 of 2011

2 February 2012

There are over 80 articles in our Insight archive, covering a wide range of corporate social investment-related topics from sustainability and governance to social development and education to issues affecting NGO specifically and those related to grantmaking.

Here is a list of the 11 articles our visitors read most in 2011:  

Time for the nonprofit sector to consolidate

23 January 2012

In the business world, it is not unusual for companies to be merged, bought and traded. Sometimes, this is how companies survive, albeit in a different incarnation. Tshikululu’s CEO, Tracey Henry, considers that when NPOs are struggling financially, collaboration to the point of consolidation may well be an alternative to closure.

This article was first published by Business Day on 20 January 2012.  

In response to The Daily Maverick

11 January 2012

On 11 January, online news publication The Daily Maverick featured a report on South Africa’s ranking in the World Giving Index conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation entitled “Charities Aid Foundation: South Africans need to give more“, which included an interview with CAF Southern Africa’s CEO Colleen du Toit.

Tshikululu’s Senior Communications Specialist, Gina de Villiers, responds.  

Parents and schools – teaching and learning together

1 December 2011

Involved parents mean learners with better marks, better attendance and even, a better chance of attending university

Studies and research and on the ground experience tells us that involved parents make for better students, but school management is still faced with the challenge of  encouraging parental involvement. Beatrice Ralfe, CSI practitioner at Tshikululu, describes some of the tactics schools can use to encourage engaged parents and communities.  

Technology in schools – what we’ve learnt

2 November 2011

Bertha Phohlela, Tshikululu CSI practitioner working with the Epoch and Optima Trusts, shares the experiences gained while assisting local schools introduce technological advances to their students.

Technology is a part of our everyday lives, and so it is no surprise that a variety of technological innovations have been introduced in classrooms around the world.

In addition to computers, these include interactive whiteboards, video games, virtual worlds, simulations, and mobile telephones. Schools are also looking to network their classrooms and use Skype-similar technology, whereby one teacher can simultaneously teach learners in several different classrooms.