Brokers are generous people, says the 2013 AMA Best Community Engagement winner, and it’s time to tell the world about it.
Brokers are generous people, says the 2013 AMA Best Community Engagement winner, and it’s time to tell the world about it.
Loan Market received the prestigious AMA for its efforts to help homeless and poverty-stricken people in Australia through its Help Open People’s Eyes (HOPE) program.
The momentum for the project came from Loan Market’s staff and its brokers, says the company’s director Mark De Martino.
“We witnessed them get involved in so many community endeavours, they were setting the example for us,” he says. “We looked at that and thought, we’re a big enough business, we’ve been around for a long time, it’s time we also gave back as a group. The brokers and the staff are doing it individually and voting with their feet it’s time that we did it as well.”
It’s natural to want to keep contributions quiet, says De Martino, but getting the word out about charity work can see your efforts have an even greater impact. This is a lesson he learnt personally when participating in the Vinnie’s CEO sleepout in June.
“I was embarrassed at the start to go out there and tell people this is what I’m doing so that I could raise funds, but when I did so I got great support and great awareness - so much so that I know there are a number of people that will do it next year because of me making people aware of it. So if that causes even one or two or five people to do it and raise more money for the homeless then that’s a good thing."
Too often we hear negative stories about the finance industry, says De Martino, whereas in reality brokers are a community of givers, not takers.
“I think human beings, and particularly people in the mortgage industry, are quite generous overall. For example, at the [AMA] awards there was a Westpac helicopter fundraiser, you almost can’t go to a function now without charity being involved… as people become more successful they ask what they can do to give back, so I think our industry is very receptive to this.”
While finding support from employees was one of the easier aspects of creating a successful community engagement strategy, De Martino admits he had to learn to be flexible with how much, and it what ways, employees were involved.
“Not everyone is going to want to give to this cause because they’ve already got their own, sometimes very personal causes. Each person’s journey in this area is their own and you’ve got to be respectful of what you know the guys are doing in other areas and also of what you don’t know, what they might be doing behind the scenes.”
Allow employees the opportunity to contribute to your cause via a multitude of ways, in time, money or goods, says De Martino, but also be there to support and encourage their individual causes.
Decisions around what cause you’re most passionate about and why, and who you will partner with in that cause should be taken with great care, he says.
“Concentrate your forces on a few and do a lot of good. With those few you’ll see the outcomes from the focus you’re putting in and so can everyone else which will rally them even more. If you’re spreading yourself too thin you might not see those outcomes you need to demonstrate the impact you’re making and may lose some support along the way.”
While De Martino admits it’s still early days yet, Loan Market has high hopes to continue making a difference in future.
“We don’t do these things for awards, but we are delighted that in our first full year we’ve started to do some good and we’ve been recognised for it. We’re only young at this and we’ll get better going forward and we hope to do a lot of good.”
