Taking it further - the accommodation and travel budget can be used to bid on flights,
car hire or accommodation packages that enable staff to meet and bond with staff
in other branches. For example, a book-keeper from Cape Town and another from Johannesburg
purchased a St Lukes donation package from the Rose Well Spa and Guesthouse in Magaliesburg
to visit with one another after meetings in Sandton. Over breakfast and throughout
the day, systems and procedures were discussed and ideas flowed in the relaxed country
environment that they enjoyed between spa treatments. Both probably returned to work
re-charged to face their workloads with improved understanding and a flourishing
relationship between branches.
The capital expenditure budget on appliances for business use can be stretched by
monitoring the Online Auction site for suitable products. If the right products aren’t
there, why not challenge the marketing department at a suitable company to participate
in the St Luke’s Online Auction and make products available for public exposure and
marketing? How much exposure? At this stage there are about 2000 bidders logging
onto the http://auction.stlukes.co.za/auction site at any given time and placing
bids. It’s not Facebook size, but it’s growing into a really significant marketing
tool for companies with a social responsibility ethos. If more people heard about
it from happy buyers on Facebook or through Tweets, there would be even more demand
for donated products and more cash available to support the terminally ill.
St Lukes reports that more than a quarter of the Hospice’s patients are aged between
20 and 35. Approximately 40% have terminal AIDS and 60% have cancer. More than 900
patients are offered Palliative care each day to ensure that they are as comfortable
and pain-free as possible. Most care is offered in patients’ own homes, at the same
time supporting the needs of their families. These patients are mostly in the worker
age group and need support from money-wise corporates that know how to turn one rand
into many.
Business minds can probably take the few suggestions ventured above and spin spun
them into many more that can generate a great deal of goodwill from the public who
support St Luke’s Hospice with their own spend. The public has relatively little
money to spend but corporate South Africa has the potential to boost St Lukes’ Hospice
without increasing their own budgets. Kudos to the managers who use their business
savvy to benefit their businesses and St Luke’s Hospice!
Part 1
