Barclays implemented GIFTS in October 2000. Before GIFTS, their grants management system, which consisted of another software program and Excel spreadsheets maintained by different staff in numerous locations, was very time-consuming. “Someone would have to type in all the voucher data by hand,” Webb explained. “Our Community Managers couldn’t access it … the whole thing was very ‘back-end.’ We wanted our data to be live, to be accessible in real time.”

After they implemented GIFTS as well as several of the GIFTS add-on modules, including the Customizer, Document Manager, and Budget Module, the Barclays’ grants management system was far more streamlined. “With the help of Buzzacott, we were able to tailor many facets of GIFTS to meet our specific needs.” For example, they adapted their request screens to include individual volunteering, staff volunteering, and employee matching, among others. They also created more than 60 letter templates, which have worked very effectively for the staff managing and developing Barclays Community Programme.

“It’s not as if we have only two or three or four offices in London with all the same equipment and technological capabilities,” Webb explained. “We currently have 31 staff accessing GIFTS across 12 different locations in the UK. And, it is not as if we only operate in the UK and the US – we have offices in 63 countries around the world and we have recently extended our employee matched fundraising scheme globally to support their existing community activities. One of the challenges we now face is how we record our community activity across the world.”

To that end, Barclays is “very actively considering” the Internet Grant Application Module, or IGAM. “IGAM would be a key win for us regarding saving time,” said Webb. “Right now, we receive only paper-based grant applications. Having the technology to receive and track grant applications online would save an inordinate amount of time, especially when we add into the mix all the work being done in our international offices.”

One of the challenges to Web-enabling their grants management process rides on the fact that not every office or location is hooked up with the same mode of connection. “Some of our offices are hooked up with T1 lines, others still only with dial-up or analog connections. However, Web-enabling our process will provide us with the opportunity to work toward standardizing our grants management process world-wide.”

As a company – and as a collective group of individuals – Barclays has the skills, resources, and determination to make a positive and lasting contribution to the communities in which the company operates. They address their ethical, social, economical, and environmental responsibilities through various programs with an emphasis on the arts, education, the environment, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged people.

“Much of our Community Programme involves our staff. We have extensive employee support and participation,” said Webb. “A group of employees might go out and paint a school or fix up a public park or play area, for example. Such an activity may fall under our Employee Volunteer Program, where a group of staff can apply for a grant of up to £1,000 to help purchase materials for their project, or our Employee Matching Program, in which an employee volunteer will be awarded extra work hours for their monthly volunteer hours. Our hope is to get our staff involved in projects that make a difference in the community. Oftentimes, philanthropy is as much about giving time as it is giving money.” Last year, more than 6,000 of Barclay’s UK staff were involved in some capacity in Barclay’s philanthropic programs.

Barclays also has strong partnerships with other organizations, collaborations that benefit local schools or other community associations. Webb, along with the seven of the London-based team, are putting on gloves and boots and going out this month to create a woodland walk at a school in a deprived area of east London. “There is something important about getting your hands dirty,” he said. “And it’s great to be able to give something back to the community, while helping us to bond together as a team.”

Like Barclays’ emblem, the Eagle Globe (based on the original Spread Eagle Coat of arms) that is “warm, open, and highly accessible, yet still reflects the stature and heritage of a world-respected bank,” Barclays’ philanthropic mission is all about helping to build communities of warmth, openness, and accessibility.


Barclays Website:
http://www.barclays.com