Activities
Four programs
The Achmea Foundation's activities are bundled into four programs. Each program has its own method, in which the foundation always works together with partners. Achmea Foundation Impact Fund, Expert Volunteer Assignments, ImpactPlus and Voor Elkaar.
Achmea Foundation Impact Fund
Investing in initiatives focusing on Africa
As in previous years, at the end of 2018 we issued a Call for Proposals, inviting partners to submit proposals for achieving ‘impact through innovation in the areas of agriculture, healthcare and financial services.’ Most of the population of Africa is still not deriving sufficient benefits from economic growth. In both a literal and figurative sense, Africa is closer to Europe and the Netherlands than many people realise. For that reason alone, developments in African countries are, and will remain, relevant to the Netherlands. The Achmea Foundation chooses to actively dedicate itself to strengthening the resilience of vulnerable populations in this region. The Foundation focuses mainly on the development of new technologies and other innovations to improve health and productivity in rural areas. In 2019 the available budget was €3 million, the same amount that was available in 2018. But ultimately it is the need for funding and the quality of the submitted proposals that determines which loans and donations best match the theme of the Call. Although we received more applications than in the previous year, fewer applications were actually granted in 2019. The successful applications were: PharmAccess, Inuka and aQysta. This means that the total portfolio of the Impact Fund is as follows:
Breakdown of Impact Fund projects in 2019 per theme:
Expert Volunteer Assignments
Using the expertise of Achmea staff
In 2019 Achmea continued to pursue its innovative approach to assignments, in order to enable a wide circle of Achmea staff to contribute to the impact achieved by the Foundation. Employees are given the opportunity to be posted abroad for a brief assignment of 1-2 weeks, during which they can use their expertise to contribute to efforts to tackle a local problem. This establishes a link between employee development and value creation for civil-society partners. It is important that this educational work experience contributes to the employee’s development plan, as discussed with their manager. Usually Achmea proposes a number of candidates to the partner, who then makes the final selection. In this way we help ensure a win-win situation: our local partner is able to achieve a faster, bigger impact thanks to specialist knowledge and expertise, while the local population receives better support from the local partner, and our employee undergoes a unique learning experience.
In 2019 there were 17 Expert Volunteer Assignments. We undertook these assignments in cooperation with three partners: VSO, SPICA and PUM.
VSO
VSO believes that everybody deserves a fair chance to make the best of his or her life. VSO is dedicated to achieving lasting change by working together and sharing knowledge. These efforts are aimed at delivering better education, good healthcare and increased employment opportunities and income. All of this while ensuring equality for everyone.
SPICA
SPICA International Corporate Volunteering is aware that all over the world, companies, groups and individuals are becoming more conscious of their responsibility for our planet and its inhabitants. One of the many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives is Corporate Volunteering. The aim of Corporate Volunteering is to create impact by supporting vulnerable people in low income countries.
PUM
PUM works with companies that have been in business for at least two years and are seeking help with their commercial activities. An Expert Volunteer will visit these companies for two weeks and provide practical advice. After this visit, PUM will continue to support these businesses in applying that advice, either remotely or as a follow-up assignment.
ImpactPlus
Encouraging social enterprise in healthcare
In 2019 social enterprise – which prioritises achieving social impact – is playing a steadily increasing role in our society. This development has added value in the health and welfare sector, allowing us to take a financially sustainable approach to tackling a social problem. This is why the Achmea Foundation’s ImpactPlus programme encourages social enterprises that are launching new, sustainable healthcare concepts onto the market. In 2019, in partnership with Zilveren Kruis and BeBright, the Achmea Foundation completed the first edition of ImpactPlus, whose theme was ‘together and not alone’. This theme was inspired by an acknowledgement that loneliness is a multi-faceted problem that has a major impact on a person’s wellbeing and that a large portion of Dutch adults experience loneliness to a certain extent.
The social enterprises that participated in ImpactPlus 2019 were: Mantelaar, KOPPL, OmaPost, Vraag Elkaar, Zorgoppas and Imove. The programme was given a rating of 8.2 by participants. It also made a visible contribution to the development of these six social enterprises. At the end of 2019 a second edition of ImpactPlus was launched, whose theme is: ‘from safety net to launchpad’. The aim remains to help the participating enterprises to make progress in order to increase their social impact. In addition the Achmea Foundation provides a financial boost to help these enterprises grow further.
Voor Elkaar
Increasing Achmea employees’ social contribution
The Achmea Foundation wants to encourage Achmea employees to make an even bigger social contribution to good causes. In 2019 the online employee platform Voor Elkaar (for each other) was officially launched at various Achmea divisions. The platform was established in partnership with Good Up, a social enterprise that focuses on empowering company employees to make a social impact. Employees can participate in the social initiatives presented on the platform. They can also post their own social projects and ask colleagues to help them. Achmea and its divisions have implemented the platform, while the Achmea Foundation plays a facilitating role by making the platform available. At the end of 2019 the platform went online at the divisions Non-life & Income Protection, Achmea Bank, Pension & Life and Interpolis. It is gradually being implemented Achmea-wide.