# How Fujitsu UK & Ireland set up its first charity of the year partnership

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/11/28/how-fujitsu-uk-amp-ireland-set-its-first-charity-year-partnership/
- Published: 2012-11-28T11:58:10+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

![](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/files/images/news/fujitsu-shelter-2012.jpg)

 

Fujitsu and Shelter are working together to reach more people in housing.  In July
2012, Fujitsu UK and Ireland selected Shelter as its charity partner of choice –
with a goal to help the charity deliver on its ambitions of helping more people 
in housing need than ever before. The decision was made by Fujistu’s own employees,
following a staff vote which saw an overwhelming 52% opt for the housing charity
from a selection of three charities in total, in a poll open to 14,000 employees
overall.

Fujitsu realises how important it is to invest in Corporate Social Responsibility
and to set example as a responsible business and concentrates on five key pillars;**
Environment, Safety, Wellbeing, Inclusion and Social Action**. After a successful
Children in Need campaign last year, which raised over £46,000, Duncan Tait (CEO)
and the Board of Directors were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our employees for
charitable causes and decided we should be doing more as an organisation – and so
we set about the application process to secure a Charity of the Year partner, the
first partnership of its kind for Fujitsu.

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Charitable giving is no longer solely about writing cheques but instead it’s about
thinking outside the box and revolutionising the way large corporate organisations
are able to support non-profit organisations. With this in mind, Fujitsu asked each
charity about their IT needs during the pitch process – realising that we should
be utilising our expertise; 25 years’ experience working with the UK’s largest retailers,
to develop an innovative and strategic partnership which would deliver maximum benefit.

A vital part of Shelter’s strategic plan going forward surrounded an urgent need
for modernised technology within their retail network so there was a natural fit.
Fujitsu already works with many of the world’s leading retailers – including M&S
in the UK. Once Shelter had been chosen, the two organisations entered a three month
planning phase, where the senior management teams from both sides came together 
to create a joint strategy and business plan. These documents contain details of
the touchstones we will use to guide our activities, and our key partnership goals
are as follows;

 *  Fujitsu will help Shelter to modernise its shop network and connect more people
   to the charity’s housing and homelessness advice and support services. Fujitsu
   will modernise the tills, hardware, software and technology infrastructure behind
   the scenes to save time and increase efficiency. We will also help Shelter revamp
   its digital presence, implementing such as webchat within new stores to link 
   customers to Shelter’s online advice service. Furthermore, Fujitsu will work 
   with Shelter to increase the capacity of its helpline.
     
 *  Fujitsu will also support fundraising efforts in practical ways, by providing
   volunteers and promoting skills-sharing. An example of this activity is the Graduate
   Shop Challenge, which took place in five Shelter stores across London, Manchester
   and Wellington, near Telford, in September. Five teams of Fujitsu graduates developed
   business plans outlining how they would improve the stores, and started implementing
   the plans alongside Shelter store managers for the day.

The partnership launched in September 2012. We have some clear and ambitious objectives
to achieve over the next two years but we also have the support of all our employees–
as well as our Leadership Team – and I believe that is the key to making a partnership
such as ours a real success. All stakeholders need to be fully on board.

Watch this space for updates about how we’re getting on!

_Dulcie McDermott is Head of Charity Partnerships at Fujitsu UK and Ireland._