SMITHS GROUP FOUNDATION: ENGINEERING SOCIAL IMPACT THROUGH EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Introduction to the project

In 2023, Smiths Group, a global pioneer in engineering, decided to empower its employees and drive positive change in communities that aligned with the company’s core purpose of engineering a better future.

The Smiths Group Foundation was launched with an initial £10 million of funding, focused on three powerful impact-driven priorities, to improve:

• Access to quality Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education and skills for underrepresented groups.
• Safety and connectedness within communities.
• The environmental sustainability of those communities.

Through the Foundation, CAF was tasked with creating an innovative grantmaking programme, supported by a structured giving strategy, which would enable the Smiths Group to give with purpose and impact, as well as empower its colleagues through active involvement with the programme.

The objectives

Smiths Group has a long-standing commitment to corporate giving and wanted to ensure that its charitable ambitions aligned with its organisation’s purpose: Engineering a better future.

It was also important to the company that its employees felt fully involved in the process of identifying possible social purpose organisations to support. Smiths Group is a multinational company, and bringing consensus and coherence to its giving strategy across different regions was identified as a leading success factor.

As it set up the Foundation, Smiths Group partnered with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) − accessing our best-practice insights, expertise and charity network − to help establish a solid strategic framework, which would guide its giving and shape its grantmaking process. This included assisting the Foundation to develop a Theory of Change to sit at the heart of the framework and ensure its corporate giving was impactful and reflected the company’s
broader ethos.

Our support

We collaborated closely with the Smiths Group Foundation to:  

1. Define strategic priorities

We ran in-depth interviews with major stakeholders from the executive team and conducted a workshop with employees based in different countries and regions to establish the Foundation’s strategic priorities and drivers for change. Geographically spread, the executive team also had varying views and priorities. So, our Advisory team acted as a critical friend to align these views across the global organisation. 

At times, it was a complex process to shape and harmonise the wide range of opinions and ambitions into a single and unified strategy that could speak not only to the company’s purpose but also to the goals of its important stakeholders. However, once the organisation was aligned, we were able to develop the Foundation’s Theory of Change and a wider strategic framework.

2. Design and deliver a global grant programme

Smiths Group Foundation wanted an impactful international grant programme that, alongside helping the company to realise its mission, would engage its global workforce and support the causes its people cared about. In response, our experts created a structured and innovative grantmaking programme that gave Smiths Group’ employees the opportunity to nominate charities for grants. 

The nomination process was just the first step. We then enabled nominated charities to apply for a grant, helping them to understand the programme’s priorities. Our team assessed the track record of the charities, and the potential impact of their proposed use of grants, in a fair and transparent process. Finally, the decision process ensured that the Foundation’s highly engaged Committee – including a global cross-section of employees and senior employees – were able to review a shortlist of the strongest applications against clear, impact-focused criteria. This allowed them to approve grants that most closely aligned with the priorities of the programme. 

The Foundation appreciated the guidance and recommendations we gave it to do this and took on board our insights throughout this process. Our online application portal facilitated the process, and it is the guidance we provided that brought the most value. Once the grants were approved, we verified and made payments to charities all around the world from Europe and the US  to China, Mexico, Brazil,  Costa Rica, India and parts of Africa. This ability to make global grants is a service offered by CAF that is valued by Smiths and other corporate clients.

3. Measure impact

We used our structured impact measurement approach to analyse trends and gather insights on the new grant programme’s impact and effectiveness. We facilitated a learning session after the first round of nominations and grants. Based on the impact data collected through the programme, and the lessons learnt, we refined the strategy and the process for the next round, illustrating our Design, Deliver, Learn model. Using data and insight to continually improve the work we deliver for clients and maximising impact remains central to the programme.

In addition, the impact framework enables us to ask grant holders to report on the specific metrics and outcomes that are required, simplifying the process, and helping save the charities’ valuable time. This enables the Foundation to understand the difference made by these grants in the communities it supports. By measuring impact against this framework, it can report back to employees and stakeholders in an empowering and transparent manner.

This includes providing grant -holder and employee reports together with stakeholder insights that will help the Smiths Group Foundation to continue to refine its programme in the years ahead.

The impact

Through our collaboration, the Smiths Group Foundation has created a structured, mission-led giving framework built around three strategic pillars, which are:

• Access to quality Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education and skills for underrepresented groups.
• Safety and connectedness within communities.
• The environmental sustainability of communities.

These pillars guide the Smiths Group Foundation’s approach to social impact. Powered by a proactive internal communications plan, the structured framework also encourages employees to get involved and propose charities that align with the priorities. Working in partnership with the Foundation, CAF’s grantmaking expertise has enabled it to demonstrate a fair and transparent decision process.

CAF is also helping the Foundation to measure and highlight its impact. To date, the Smiths Group Foundation has awarded more than £1.5 million to 19 social purpose organisations in 11 countries and its employees are excited about the causes being supported through both funding and volunteering programmes. 

With CAF’s Advisory support and Grantmaking best-practice expertise, the Smiths Group Foundation has developed a compelling strategy and strong governance structure. Together, we identified the most impactful causes, assessed nominations and applications against fair criteria, and worked with grant holders to measure outcomes in how they have engineered a better future within communities.

Through this programme, the Smiths Group Foundation will continue to help build the resilience of social purpose organisations globally, providing vital resources that can help it to sustain and scale its vital work.

Project takeways

• Strategic development: CAF helped Smiths Group align its philanthropy with its corporate purpose to create lasting impact.
• Partnership working: A close collaboration that combined the Smiths Group’s vision with CAF’s expertise and built a structured and effective giving programme.
• End-to-end grant management: CAF’s Design, Deliver, Learn model ensured a smooth process from strategy development to impact measurement.