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Services for Corporate Social Responsibility

INTRODUCTION

Maximizing CSR Impact

We believe in maximizing CSR impact by aligning social causes with your business strategy and community needs. At Avad India, we create effective CSR programs by identifying key intervention areas through surveys, setting clear objectives, and designing delivery frameworks. We ensure partner credibility through rigorous due diligence, including financial and legal reviews, and beneficiary feedback. Our project management focuses on ethical, efficient implementation, with a strong monitoring framework and compliance checks. Finally, our impact assessment evaluates the outcomes, Social Return on Investment (SROI), and provides insights for scaling or adjusting the program.

We believe impact of CSR can be maximized on Community and Company by developing strategic approaches. CSR programs that leverage an organization’s core competency and are based on its core values, are the ones that drive noticeable impact.

NHF identify, screen and recommend the best NGO partners for your company to work with while implementing your CSR strategy. Our rigorous due-diligence process ensures that our partners are trusted and committed to social development.

Doing good for no reward is Philanthropy. Doing good for mutual reward is CSR. In the digital era, CSR communication helps to increase your brand’s awareness and equity and in turn establishes you as a leader.

 

NHF ensures that all your legal compliances in accordance with Companies Act, The CSR Rules 2014 and any other prevailing regulation,
is complied with.

CSR Rules mandate a company to institute a ‘Transparent Monitoring Mechanism’ for their projects. We help our clients to design and deliver the on-ground project in an efficient, effective and ethical manner along with regular monitoring and evaluation.

NHF helps you to assess the impact of your CSR initiatives and achievement against the desired objectives. It helps you to decide whether the CSR investment is yielding desired Social Return on Investment.

ROLE OF NHF IN CORPORATE CSR:

NHF acts as a bridge between corporates and NGOS. apart from all of the above mentioned services, NHF will do proper selection of recipient NGOS according to the CSR policies of different corporates.

Applicability of CSR in India

The CSR provisions apply to companies meeting specific financial thresholds in the preceding financial year:

Such companies are obligated to allocate at least 2% of their average net profits over the preceding three financial years towards CSR initiatives.
Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR initiatives offer numerous benefits to companies:
Role of Board of Directors
The Board of Directors plays a pivotal role in CSR implementation:

Calculation of Net Profit for CSR
Net profit computation for CSR purposes adheres to Section 198 of the Companies Act, 2013. It involves various deductions and exclusions, ensuring a fair assessment of available funds for CSR activities.

Transfer and Use of Unspent Amount
Companies are mandated to transfer unspent CSR funds to specified funds within stipulated timeframes, ensuring efficient utilization for societal welfare projects.
In the event of unutilized funds pertaining to an ongoing project within the company’s CSR framework, the company is required to transfer such unspent amount to a dedicated account, termed as the ‘Unspent Corporate Social Responsibility Account’, held with any scheduled bank within 30 days following the conclusion of the financial year.
Subsequently, the company must allocate the funds residing in the ‘Unspent Corporate Social Responsibility Account’ towards fulfilling its CSR obligations within a period of three financial years from the date of the transfer. Should the company fail to utilize the funds within the stipulated three-year period, it is mandated to transfer the remaining amount to the specified fund as mentioned above within 30 days upon the conclusion of the third financial year.

CSR Committee Applicability and Duties
CSR Committees, comprising a minimum of three directors, including at least one independent director, are responsible for formulating CSR policies, recommending expenditure, and monitoring implementation.

CSR Reporting and Policy
CSR reporting is integral, with annual CSR reports to be included in the Board’s Report or as an Annexure in the balance sheet for foreign companies. CSR policies must outline activities distinct from regular business operations, promoting transparency and accountability.

Permitted CSR Activities Under Schedule VII
CSR activities encompass a wide spectrum, including but not limited to:

Fines and Penalties for Non-Compliance
Failure to adhere to CSR spending, transfer, and utilization regulations can result in penalties for the company and its officers.
According to the Companies Act, 2013, non-compliant companies may face a penalty of Rs. 1 crore or twice the required transfer amount to the CSR fund specified in Schedule VII or the Unspent Corporate Social Responsibility Account, whichever is lower.
Additionally, officers of such companies who default in compliance may be subject to penalties of Rs. 2 lakh or one-tenth of the amount required to be transferred to the CSR fund specified in Schedule VII or the Unspent Corporate Social Responsibility Account, whichever is lower.

Reason for Introduction of CSR for Companies
The introduction of CSR provisions in the Companies Act, 2013 reflects the evolving role of corporations in societal welfare, emphasizing responsible corporate citizenship beyond profit generation.

CALL TO ACTION

To achieve your main business goal, Hire us now !

CSR STRATEGY

We believe impact of CSR can be maximized on you and your Community by identifying social causes that are most strategic to your business and impactful for the community. Avad India factors in multiple aspects to formulate a winning CSR program for a business. CSR programs that leverage an organization’s core competency and are based on its core values, are the ones that drive noticeable impact. This results in real on-ground change and development, which eventually comes back to add to the company’s growth and stakeholders’ value.

How We Do It
  • Conduct base-line survey / need assessment to identify the most impactful intervention need.
  • Conceptualize the ideas.
  • Set Clear Objectives as per Theory of Change.
  • Design initial delivery framework along with activities, outcome & impact.

PARTNER SELECTION

Through NHF due diligence process, we assess NGO’s credibility and ability to deliver and sustain programme on the ground. True to our name, we tread the path of Dharma (righteousness), with utmost care. We are firm believers of the saying “The good you do, comes back to you”. We ensure that our partners are trusted and committed to social development. Our NGO partners function at the grassroots level of the social issues and have direct access to beneficiaries, even in remote areas of the country.

How We Do It
  • Perform Financial Review of entity
  • Perform Legal Documentation Review
  • Assessor Visit to NGO
  • Getting Third Party Feedback
  • Undertake Beneficiary Interviews and Feedback
  • Independent verification on Income Tax portal
  • Perform Awards and Media Coverage review
  • Ensure Political and Religious Affiliations check

CSR COMMUNICATION

If your brand is looking for a boost, CSR may be the answer!
Nestle India brought about a change in packaging of three of their most iconic brands, MAGGI, NESCAFÉ and KITKAT to support girl child education through Non-Profit Organization, Nanhi Kali.
Communicating your efforts effectively is critical in helping stakeholders understand the long-term value in CSR investments. It also helps to strike an emotional cord with the people and create a long term brand loyalty and recall. Management expert, Timothy Creel explains, “Recent studies show that companies engaging in socially responsible behavior tend to show long-term financial gains and increases in value.”
We create Outreach, Affinity and Advocacy for Brands around impactful CSR. Our approach ensures maximum visibility for your projects.

How We Do It
  • Branding on spot
  • Creating Documentary CSR video Creating info-graphics, success stories, case studies and promotion through Social Media
  • Media Coverage / PR
  • Creating crowd funding / social media campaigns for visibility
  • Engaging management at key forums / events
  • Managing employee volunteering days

GOVERNANCE AND LEGAL

NHF undertakes end to end management of compliance, ensures appropriate documentation and disclosures. Our experts ensure that all your CSR is in accordance with Companies Act, The CSR Rules 2014 and any other prevailing regulation.

How We Do It
  • Engage and Support CSR Committee on CSR Policy formulation, as per law.
  • Ensuring disclosures in Board Report, Annual Report, Minutes of Meeting and Website.
  • Ensuring documentation / approvals as per law.
  • Adherence to all Dos and Don’ts as per the rules and FAQs related to CSR.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

We make sure that your CSR initiatives are implemented in an ethical, effective and efficient way. Also ensuring that program design reflects local developmental needs and creates sustainable value for communities, turning your CSR strategy into reality. Monitoring ensures that desired objectives are met and the project is on track as per the agreed budgets and timelines.

How We Do It
  • Preparing an implementation roadmap, defining budgets and processes
  • Designing and signing tri-party MOU
  • Establishing monitoring framework to measure outcomes, quality and adherence to compliance
  • Ensuring financial compliance
  • Submitting periodic Monitoring Reports for review
  • Conducting joint review meetings

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Impact Assessment (IA) involves ascertaining the outcomes / impact created through the CSR project including calculation of Social Return On Investment (SROI). It also determines efficacy of implementation, the challenges faced and intended and unintended outcomes of the project. It also provides a base to see whether the model can be scaled up in future or needs to be altered.

How We Do It
  • Collect and compile program progress data
  • Evaluate intended and unintended program outcomes
  • Create field research tools
  • Conduct Primary and Secondary research
  • Beneficiary interviews, community interviews and surveys
  • Comparison between intervention group and non intervention group
  • Analysis of quantitative and qualitative findings
  • Impact / progress report generation for Board of Directors