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Absa walked off as the winner of the Company Partnership Award for its Absa Casual Day at the fourth Mail & Guardian investing in the Future awards ceremony, held on Thursday night.

Mihloti Mathye, General Manager for Absa Corporate Social Responsibility, says that partnerships for initiatives such as Casual Day are imperative. "The success of Absa Casual Day is thanks to the partnership between the bank and the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa."

Absa is the primary sponsor of the campaign and provides Casual Day with the infrastructure to sell stickers, which are distributed at all Absa branches and sold to the public. In addition, the bank provides volunteers and marketing support.

"Our partnership also goes to grassroots level where Absa branches partner with local welfare organisations. We also provided a platform to create awareness through ATMs, statements, telephone messages, Q-TV screens and in-branch posters and billboards," Mathye adds.

She says that this year proved more challenging as corporate social investment practitioners had to generate a greater impact with fewer funds — something Absa certainly achieved. The project team found an innovative yet cost-effective way to pique public interest with their People against Suits and Ties (PAST) campaign.

"This campaign serves as an important example of how corporate organisations can harness the power of their employees to increase the impact, reach and effectiveness of their corporate social investment initiatives. Being part of such a successful and high profile campaign also fosters a deep sense of employee pride, which has a far reaching positive impact on our business," Mathye emphasises.

(Not interested in banks winning awards? Click here to learn which bank is SA's cheapest…)

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