Baringa had three key objectives in creating their award-winning CSR programme. 

1. Embed social impact into business DNA: Baringa wanted impact to be a core part of their culture. This meant building opportunities into everyday life at the company, so they’re easy to find, easy to book, and aligned with employees’ interests.

2. Maximise the value of employee skills: Baringa’s people are experts in fields like cyber security, data analytics, and strategy. They knew that if they could match these skills to the needs of charities, they could create a level of impact far beyond what could be achieved through financial donations alone.

3. Strengthen client relationships through shared purpose: Many of Baringa’s clients now prioritise CSR in their partnerships. By creating volunteering opportunities that they could do with clients, Baringa saw the chance to build deeper, values-led relationships that would benefit communities, charities, and Baringa’s business.

But implementing a programme that would achieve all these goals isn’t easy – especially for a large, global company.  Traditional one-off volunteering days simply weren’t going to be enough for Baringa to reach its goals. 

They needed a social impact strategy that would address the four key challenges that had hindered Baringa’s previous attempts to deliver consistent, trackable, and engaging impact. 

1. Time: In consulting, client delivery often comes first, which meant employees sometimes saw volunteering as “something to fit in when possible,” rather than a core part of their work.

2. Accessibility: Opportunities weren’t always easy to find or book, which unintentionally discouraged participation.

3. Longevity: It’s common for CSR programmes to have an initial burst of enthusiasm that tails off over time.

4. Global access, local appeal: Baringa operates in multiple countries, so they needed initiatives that united people globally while still offering local relevance.

To achieve these goals – and overcome these classic challenges – Baringa had to implement a multifaceted approach, designed specifically to work for their people. 

From the beginning, Baringa adopted a holistic approach to the implementation of its social impact programme. Embedding impact into business culture, capitalising on employee skills, and strengthening client relationships required the company to creatively build an implementation strategy piece by piece. Here’s how they did it. 

1. Momentum: Co-created, People-led Design

To tackle the issue of longevity and ensure that enthusiasm wouldn’t trail off over time, Baringa decided that they would give their people the lead. They did this in three key ways. 

• Strategic charity partners: Baringa partner with three charities at any time, each for three years. Their current strategic charity partners are:Choose Love,SOS Children’s Villages, and CRUK. Strategic charity partners are chosen through a company-wide vote to ensure maximum engagement throughout the workforce.

• DEI network partnerships: Networks like Black at Baringa and the Social Mobility Network form partnerships with charities that align to their mission, such as ACE or Drive Forward.

• Breadth of opportunities: From skills-based projects to hands-on community opportunities, Baringa make sure there’s something for every interest, ability, and schedule.

2. Visibility: Kudos and Accountability 

To promote momentum and engagement – as well as accountability – Baringa focused on visibility. 

• Regular storytelling: Baringa’s “People Matters” newsletter features real impact stories every two weeks, keeping volunteering visible and inspiring others to get involved.

• Leadership visibility: Partners and senior leaders actively participate, sending a clear cultural signal that volunteering is valued at every level.

• B4SI: Baringa became a member of B4SI, the global standard in measuring and managing corporate social impact. This challenged the company to improve by benchmarking their total community contribution against top-quartile organisations.

3. Accessibility: OnHand as the Enabler for Global Engagement

To tackle the issues of accessibility, time constraints, and global reach, Baringa integrated OnHand into the heart of the programme. 

With OnHand, Baringa employees can:

• Search for opportunities by cause, skill set, or location

• Choose between quick acts of kindness or multi-day skilled projects

• Connect a growing network of global charities, making it easy to find opportunities regardless of location! 

With OnHand as the central hub, all volunteering opportunities are now in one place, making it simple for employees to see what’s available, where, and how long it’ll take. It is the tool that enables a holistic, ambitious, global CSR programme.  

4. Integration: Building Social Impact into Company Culture

Baringa didn’t want social and community impact to be an add-on, they wanted it to be embedded into their business DNA. This was achieved through appointing CSR Champions.

Every business unit has a CSR Champion who shares opportunities, encourages participation, and feeds back impact stories.

By building CSR into the onboarding process and ensuring that CSR is championed regularly by individuals throughout the organisation, Baringa makes sure every employee starts their journey at Baringa with impact at the top of the agenda, and continues with impact always at the front of mind. 

5. Client Focus: Collaboration on Joint CSR Days

Like many organisations in professional services, Baringa’s biggest challenge was time. Their people genuinely wanted to get involved, but in a billable-hours environment, carving out space for volunteering could feel like a tough trade-off.

Baringa found a way around this issue by making volunteering commercially relevant through linking it to client relationships. Through joint CSR days – from CV and mock interview workshops to gardening and soup kitchens – they’ve deepened client relationships, built trust, and embedded CSR into commercial conversations.

Baringa’s CSR programme has delivered measurable, sustained impact at scale. Participation has grown steadily across roles, geographies, and seniority levels, demonstrating that volunteering is embedded into everyday working life rather than treated as a one-off initiative.

• 42% of employees engaged in volunteering (FY25)

• 862 volunteer days delivered (FY25)

• 47 organisations supported globally (FY25)

• £2m+ in pro bono consulting delivered since FY18 through the Baringa Community Fund

• 0.1% of annual revenue committed to pro bono work

These results reflect a programme that combines accessibility, relevance, and long-term commitment.

“It’s not just the numbers that tell the story, it’s the way volunteering has become part of how we work”

–  Baringa Senior Leader

Baringa’s most impactful outcomes have come from initiatives that combine clear objectives, alignment with employee skills or passions, and ease of participation.

1. Skills-led outcomes

Baringa’s people have applied specialist expertise to causes that would otherwise not have access to this level of support.

Cancer Research UK’s AI Legacy Income Model

Developed by Baringa’s AI team to help CRUK more accurately forecast and grow legacy income, directly improving the charity’s ability to plan and invest in future research.

Cyber 101 Workshops for Charity Boards

Delivered to organisations including CRUK’s Board of Trustees, strengthening cyber resilience and data protection capability.

• CRUK’s COO said the session “left people informed and asking for more.”

• Their CTO noted that trustees are now asking “sharper, more insightful questions.”

2. Capacity-building outcomes

St John’s Ambulance – Leadership Programme

Baringa designed and delivered a tailored leadership programme in close collaboration with St John’s Ambulance, supporting leaders operating in a complex, community-driven environment.

“Baringa has been an outstanding partner… our leaders are now better equipped to deliver their roles with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose.” — Director of Volunteer Experience, St John’s Ambulance

NSPCC – Long-term Strategic Partnership

Over three years, Baringa teams have supported NSPCC through a combination of fundraising and skills-based project work:

• £900,000+ raised through flagship events such as the Childline Ball and Childline Sports Day

• Four strategic projects addressing child online safety, including:

  • Development of a national child safety strategy

  • Creation of a data library and governance framework for NSPCC’s Voice of Youth work

  • Drafting a white paper to influence government and regulatory policy

3. Youth outcomes

Supporting young people into work has been a major focus of Baringa’s volunteering activity.

• Dozens of CV workshops, mock interviews, and university preparation days delivered

• Young people supported with practical skills, confidence, and professional insight

The students benefitted greatly from these sessions, giving overwhelmingly positive feedback: 

"Thank you for being so welcoming and giving personalised advice. You broke the sector down really well and explained how much variety there is." — Student 

"Thank you to all of the volunteers. You've all been really informative, and this has opened up my interest in consulting as a career path." — Student 

Alongside community impact, Baringa’s programme has delivered clear business benefits by embedding CSR into culture and client relationships.

• Culture

  • Volunteering is embedded into onboarding, with new joiners participating in a CSR day within their first two weeks

  • Strong leadership role modelling, with Partners and senior leaders actively involved

  • DEI networks leading and shaping volunteering partnerships, increasing relevance and participation

  • Membership of B4SI, benchmarking Baringa’s community contribution against top-quartile organisations

• Clients

  • Joint CSR days with clients, from youth employability workshops to community and environmental projects

  • Shared volunteering experiences have deepened relationships, built trust, and embedded community impact into commercial conversations