Experience.
Better Together.
CSA Community is ChemSupply Australia’s
employee-led charitable program
Established in 2022, the program is designed to create a brighter future for the community, and deliver greater social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
It was motivated by a simple desire to help out those charities that are making a real difference in society, and also the organisations that typically get ‘lost in the crowd’.
To achieve these goals CSA Community
focuses on two main areas
1
Giving CSA employees the ability to guide the program’s charitable donations and work within the community.
2
To help guide other businesses who want to establish and maintain charitable programs of their own or in conjunction with CSA Community.
Charity begins at home
The CSA Community program builds on a history of providing support to a diverse range of groups.
Its aim is to give a boost to not-for-profit organisations, as well those groups who are working hard to create a better, more sustainable future for all.
Formulating positive change from within
Our program aims to inspire and encourage people to make a difference where it’s needed most – whether that’s through:
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Product and in-kind support are also offered, particularly to causes that have a connection to our three business units: CSA Scientific, CSA Pathology and CSA Ingredients.
Most importantly, CSA Community gives our employees responsibility for the program’s leadership and decision-making, through the program’s own charter and committee.
The recipe for success
A key part of CSA Community’s operation is our ‘sub-fund’.
In 2022, ChemSupply Australia signed up with Foundation SA, which enabled us to open a dedicated, charitable sub-fund so that money is held in trust – completely external to ChemSupply Australia’s own finances.
Foundation SA also provides the expert governance, transparency and administrative know-how, necessary to successfully and responsibly manage a charitable foundation.
All contributions to CSA Community are tax-deductible, since grants or donations from the CSA Community sub-fund can only go to organisations that are registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
Compounding the benefits by working with others
From our own experiences in setting up CSA Community, we are happy to provide tips and suggestions on establishing your own sub-fund, as well as launching and running your company’s own program – from setting up the committee to maintaining tax-deductible status for donations, promoting the program, organising fundraising campaigns, and ultimately mentoring others.
CSA Community aims to inspire staff and businesses to become part of a united team, which is focused on creating a better community, now and for the future.
Turning an idea into a community of giving
For many years, the creation of CSA Community had been front-of-mind for the ChemSupply Australia leadership team, inspired by Director, Geoff Goss. In 2022, his vision has become a reality, and CSA Community has been launched.
CSA Community was built on a combination of the teams’ desire for helping others and the realisation that many in the company, and the wider business sphere, shared that desire as well. Recognising that not everyone is in a position to donate money, the challenge was to find ways for any member of the ChemSupply Australia team to get on board.
Creating an opportunity to give back
“The creation of CSA Community provides a structured platform of giving, which can be provided through money or time. And it goes even further than that. You can give kindness, compassion, encouragement and respect. They all cost nothing, but they’re all valuable.
CSA Community creates the opportunity for giving back. Our customers support our business by buying the products that they need, and we continue that circle of support by helping others in the wider community who, through no fault of their own, are doing it tough.”
Geoff Goss
Director, ChemSupply Australia
A history of giving
A real team effort
While CSA Community is a new initiative, ChemSupply Australia’s history of giving goes back many years, and most notable to date is the company’s central role in establishing a new girls’ school accommodation building in rural Vietnam.
A chance conversation between Geoff Goss and an employee revealed that the staff member was sending part of her wages to her sister in Vietnam, to help impoverished girls in the highlands. Her ultimate wish was to build a boarding house for the girls while they did their schooling – but the cost was well beyond her means. Inspired by her story, ChemSupply Australia decided to get behind her dream.
The CSA team discovered Project Vietnam – a small charity capable of pulling this project together. The company as a whole then helped raise over $20,000, while Project Vietnam went about securing donations of materials, transport and labour. In 2012, then-CFO Chantale Millard flew over to assist with the building process. Not long after, ‘Lucy’s House’ opened to its first enthusiastic students, and the seeds of CSA Community were well and truly sown.
Our first donation:
Helping to feed those in need
With the CSA Community program now established, we’re proud to announce our inaugural donation of $20,000 to the first worthy recipient, food relief organisation Foodbank SA — building on our long-term association.