The objectives
Landsec wanted to do more at a corporate level to support young people from underrepresented social economic backgrounds. Increasing the diversity of talent in the real estate industry formed part of a long-held ambition to create a charitable foundation.
The challenge they faced was how to get there.
The company had a good idea of how they wanted to build on the culture of giving that already existed at a local level. To do this they needed a partner with the experience and knowledge to
guide them along the right path to deliver their ambitions.
We provided Landsec with the perspective they needed: laying the foundations for an effective strategy that would ultimately transform its ability to support good causes across
the business.
Our support
Landsec first approached us in Spring 2022. Over the next year our expertise was called upon to support the company as its long-term corporate giving programme began to crystallise.
1. Deciding the right delivery structure for a new approach to corporate giving
Landsec initially sought advice on how to set up an independent charitable foundation, including ensuring the right level of governance and structure was in place.
We provided guidance on the pros and cons of this approach as well as
providing guidance on the structures and tools needed to support a community grant scheme, operating on a national scale.
They ultimately decided to set up their Foundation within the CAF structure, rather than as an independent Foundation.
2. Scaling up community grantmaking
We helped with the design of a grant programme that would meet best practice standards. It needed to be easy to resource so that each site could retain ownership of the process and decision-making.
Our Grantmaking team also advised on appropriate grant sizing and reporting, as well as structuring the way grants are processed to keep things as simple as possible. As a result, Landsec has been awarding unrestricted grants to small and medium community-focused charitable organisations across England, Wales and Scotland.
"When developing Landsec Futures, we had a clear idea of the role that CAF could play in delivering our community grants programme with their detailed knowledge of charities and local organisations. It’s worked well to bring together our shared expertise for charity partnerships and communities around the UK."
Emily McEleny, Senior Sustainability Manager – Social Impact, Landsec
3. Searching and selecting local causes to support that met corporate objectives
Landsec had formalised a number of existing relationships with charities but were keen to find additional local causes that fully aligned with their intended impact.
Scaling up their community giving was challenged by a need for
increased knowledge of charities and grassroots organisations that Landsec might partner with or support.
Our Impact Advisory team developed a strategy to help Landsec find employment and education partners at sites around the UK. This was formalised in a proposal submitted in Autumn 2022 and approved that year.
We also undertook a bespoke charity search and select exercise to help Landsec teams identify local causes and projects aligned to their programme priorities.
"Our Community Grants programme was something brand new to us at Landsec, so having the experience of CAF to support us on this journey has been invaluable."
"With this being a wide-scale programme operating across the UK, CAF have been able to act on our behalf to complete all of the verification checks, make the payments and manage use of funds reporting on our behalf, ensuring the programme runs effectively and helping its overall success."
Ollie Leggett, Junior Project Manager - Social Impact, Landsec
4. Delivering core elements of a new ‘charity foundation’
In the Autumn of 2022, we were selected by Landsec as a key partner to deliver core elements of their proposed new fund. Setting up a CAF Company Account model was the first focus to ensure transparency and provide the company with the right mechanism
to effectively manage several different funding pots.
Our Grantmaking team also worked on designing Landsec’s community grant scheme. This would form a core component of Landsec Futures when it launched in April 2023 with the promise
of maximising the potential of people, places, and communities.
“CAF has been there in the background for us throughout as we’ve looked to build scale and take our corporate giving nationwide – which has been great in terms of helping us both in terms of building scale and focus."
Ben Anderson, Senior Sustainability Manager – Social Impact, Landsec
The impact
Our trusted guidance, experience and knowledge has proved invaluable in helping Landsec to transform many aspects of its corporate giving strategy and approach.
Our support has helped Landsec take a successful local approach nationwide, giving
their corporate giving strategy more shape and putting it in a much better position to communicate effectively with both internal and external audiences.
The way the company makes decisions on community grants has been re-structured to
give teams at Landsec sites across the UK the confidence that they are making a real difference to their communities.
The number of community grant applications has increased with volunteering also on the rise. It has energised existing
employees, built new connections with new education and youth employment partners, and raised awareness of Landsec as a forward thinking, community minded organisation set on changing lives for the better.
With our support, Landsec
now has the systems in place to demonstrate the difference its support of local charities and causes is making nationwide: a standard bearer of best practice and corporate giving governance for the real estate sector.
"Throughout our partnership with CAF, it is clear that they are aligned on the journey we are trying to take through our programmes - it feels like they are working alongside us, not just working for us"
Jennie Colville, Head of ESG and Sustainability, Landsec
Project takeaways
Bespoke service
We work collaboratively and flexibly to meet our clients’ needs and answer both key objectives and the challenges of scaling up, managing, and monitoring a national fund at scale. We were able to design processes and solutions according to stage
and intentions to ensure a good outcome for all.
Partnership working
We provide our clients with the right support as and when they need us. Our long relationship with Landsec as a partner, built the confidence and trust needed for what would become core components of the Landsec Futures programme. A collaborative and
positive approach has been key to the success of our partnership to date.
Measuring impact
We have been able to provide independent, strategic advice that has helped to shape a strategy that will effectively highlight the impact of projects seeking to create opportunities both for talented young people and the communities in which they live.