Janine Sturme of PWC coached in 2019 Jeannet Venekamp of Diaconal Walk-In House t Hemeltje, a meeting place for homeless people.

Janine's experience:

"The beauty of this community coaching project for me is that the clients we advise are often the very ones who have the means to make donations to charities. Through this project I now experience from the other side how important and indispensable these financial contributions are for foundations. I also share my experiences and stories with my colleagues in our team meetings. Many colleagues are enthusiastic and would also like to coach a foundation. It really is a very different world from the one we operate in every day".

Put your knowledge to work for a good cause

DLL, NXP and PWC developed the corporate volunteering program 'Community Coaching' with Together for Eindhoven. It brings together a group of business professionals for a number of months to coach and guide civil society organizations in the Brainport region towards their goals. With this 'skills-based volunteering' program, companies from the Samen voor Eindhoven network give substance to their CSR objective in an innovative way. Companies share knowledge and expertise of employees to support charities in an impactful way.

Community Coaching in Practice:

Last year, ICS participated as a Community Coach. For nine months, they were sparring partner and coach to Vrijwillige HulpdienstEindhoven (VHE). The goal was to guide this non-profit in implementing the right automation and technology. Under the name Maatje040, Vrijwillige Hulpdienst Eindhoven works with volunteers who enthusiastically dedicate themselves to supporting other people. From BoodschapMaatje to BuddyMaatje and from KlusMaatje to AdministratieMaatje. By participating in Community Coaching, ICS offered access to marketing, technology, strategy, communication and resources to Maatje040. Read the article in the ED about this successful collaboration here.

Community Coach program 2020/2021:

What will you do as a coach?

• For approximately 9 months you will be a sparring partner of a community organization; approximately once or twice a month you will be in contact
• During the process you will be internally coached by a senior manager. Together you will form a "coach-tandem".
• During an introductory session, we will match you with a nonprofit organization that suits you
• As a community coach, you work with a community organization or charity on a development issue

What do you get in return?
As an interlocutor, you invest your time, but you get a lot in return. A nice social result, and also development of your own consulting and communication skills (effective listening, asking questions and giving feedback). You learn to think outside the box and be creative. Last but not least, you make an important contribution to a more beautiful Social Smart Brainport. Moreover, you work together with other professionals from other companies and learn from their knowledge and expertise. But above all, it gives satisfaction, fun, inspiration and energy and this program is also good for your network and CV.

For the coachee (from the social field): 

You as a coachee (from a social organization) get a coach from a company. You work together professionally for about 9 months on a goal. This can be a personal goal but also a goal for your organization. Are you curious about this program? Does your foundation need a coach? Please contact Judith Helderman of Samen voor Eindhoven via judith@samenvooreindhoven.nl or 06-5596 4713.

Participate in 2020/2021? We ask the following of the coach from business:

• You are open and curious to learn from others.
• You live or work in Brainport region and have at least 5 years of work experience
• Commitment from your manager to commit to a community organization for approximately 9 months
• You attend the (online) workshops and network meetings during this track
• The Community Coach program can be a part of an HR development program (PDP)

Your application Please send your application to judith@samenvooreindhoven.nl. For questions please contact Judith Helderman 06-5596 4713 or Esther Hofstede 06 - 4603 1010.

As an intermediary develops and facilitates Together for Eindhoven this program, collects the issues, organizes the (online) networking and training moments, has access to a large business network and maintains warm relationships with many social initiatives in Eindhoven. Because of her independence, she has insight into the interests of all parties and monitors and evaluates the cooperation.