From CIO to consultant: Time for giving

Charity may be fine for billionaire philanthropists such as Bill Gates but what's in it for smaller businesses? Mike Barrett argues that there's plenty to be gained, regardless of company size

About this time last year I found myself huddled under a couple of umbrellas with four work colleagues. It was cold, wet and miserable. Despite our state-of-the-art sleeping bags and numerous layers of clothes we were all shivering.

You might be forgiven for thinking we were on some corporate team-building exercise in the wilds of Scotland. In fact we were lying on the grass outside the mayor's building in the centre of London, helping Byte Night and children's charity NCH raise money for young people who sleep out every night - usually through no fault of their own.

Everywhere you look, businesses are starting to wake up to the notion of corporate social responsibility - with CSR, its inevitable three-letter acronym, popping up almost daily in articles about green and social agendas for businesses.

Some organisations are clearly just paying lip-service to the concept. But others are bringing it into the heart of their business.

Today, there seems to be much more understanding that work is not necessarily just about making money. People are increasingly attracted to companies that can show they care. That makes CSR one area of business growth where everyone should win.

My ex-employer, CNET, has a great record of supporting charities, whether through the long-standing corporate support for Byte Night or individual fundraising efforts such as the great cycle epic undertaken by three staffers last year.

It's amazing that we managed to do this in such a small, fast-moving business where everyone was working flat-out on their day jobs.

All the same, and perhaps it's just my nature or my advancing years but I always wondered if we could do more, be more organised, find more time.

The problem of course is that charity is such a personal thing. How do you balance the desire to provide corporate support with the desire of individuals to raise money for charities close to their hearts?

How can you mobilise an entire company behind one cause or conversely build a program that allows the company to support the individuals? Is it possible to do both?

Charity in a start-up?

When I left to set up my own business, I was determined to maintain my support for Byte Night and looked around for inspiration as to how others had built charitable support into their companies.

I found many examples of people who decided to give something back once they had become very wealthy.

The definitive example of this is Bill Gates, who is now able to do some amazing work with the multi-billion dollar fund at his disposal.

Perhaps one day I'll be in the same fortunate position as Gates but in the mean time I wanted to work out how as a start-up I could contribute from day one.

The inspiration I was looking for came from Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com. I saw him speak at an event about how his company had built a charitable trust.

As a result, I read his book, which related how he established from the outset the "one per cent model". It was enshrined in the fabric of the company that it gives one per cent of its profit, one per cent of its equity and one per cent of employees' time back to the local communities it serves.

The question is could I put something similar into practice in a company of one? Given that at this point I had no profit or equity, I set myself a target of one day per month, the equivalent to five per cent of my working time, to be spent on charitable projects.

What has it entailed?

Because of my previous involvement in Byte Night, I contacted James Bennet, co-founder of the event and asked if I could sit in on a board meeting. He kindly consented.

I had no idea whether I would be able to contribute anything valuable. But the enthusiasm and passion of the board members was infectious and I realised that any help is welcome. There is always something to do.

Most boards are crying out for experienced people to join them, what I learned is that it's important to be a regular contributor to the meetings and also take responsibility for following up with action in between.

In the case of Byte Night, there are only four board meetings per year for an event that involves nearly 300 people sleeping out and which this year will raise more than £250,000.

I was delighted to be asked to become a member and was able to help launch the spin-off project, Byte Night Local, by building the website. Importantly, this was all achieved at no cost to the charity by utilising various resources from the board members' companies.

What have I got out of it?

Like everything in life, you only get out what you put in. The past nine months have been an amazing experience and I've met some talented and dedicated people. From the board, who freely give their time and resources, through the NCH team who support us, to the people in the front line dealing with problems many of us can't even imagine.

I've also been lucky enough to meet some of the young people that we've helped through incredibly difficult periods in their life. It's been in equal measure humbling and inspirational.

It has also been great fun and I've been asked to do things I would never have been involved with before. For example, two weeks ago I spent an enjoyable few hours locked in a small room with actress Jenny Agutter.

Women of a certain age will remember her as the eldest daughter in The Railway Children but men of a similar age will remember her for the seminal film Walkabout.

It was daunting but exciting as we were interviewed by 16 different radio stations and broadcast live to more than 14 million people across the country.

So can one person in a start-up make a difference?

When I set out to see if there was some way to help, I thought that even if I end up making the tea at the event it would be a contribution. As it happens, I was fortunate to be able to do something that utilised my particular skills.

The truth is that charities require exactly the same management skills as the businesses in which we earn our livings. People management, project management, supply chain management, logistics and communications to name but a few.

So I believe that even one person can make a big difference. It's not always measurable in monetary terms but it has made me realise that even as a one-person company, my contribution means that somewhere out there somebody will not be sleeping out on 5 October, which makes it all worthwhile.

It is not too late to join Mike Barrett if you want to sign up and spend a night under the stars on 5 October. If that sounds like it might be too cold and wet for you then you could sponsor him, or the CNET team. And if you're a man of a certain age then you might even like to sponsor Jenny.