Here at TTT-Tax Services, we pride ourselves how we prioritise giving back to the community.
Meet two TTT treasures: Annerie Nel (Training Manager) and Shannon Estment (Administration Assistant). These two took on the massive task of heading TTT’s community outreach initiatives. And the results have been truly impactful.
Uplifting a decade on
In 2001, we partnered with Sithanda Upliftment Projects. Since then, we’ve accomplished wonderful things with them.
But at the start of 2021, managing partner Roscoe Dekker decided we needed to do more. He asked the team to look into other ways we can actively engage with community upliftment initiatives. Annerie and Shannon volunteered to take this task on.
Theme it, throne it
We asked Shannon and Annerie to tell us more about this commitment. And all the organising that goes into it.
(Sidenote: it’s cute how these two finish each other’s sentences. It’s no surprise they achieve inspiring collabs together.)
In the beginning, making the choice around who to help was a bit overwhelming. Annerie admits that they wanted “to help everyone in the first month… the possibilities [were] endless.”
Their solution? They decided to theme their projects around novelty days and public holidays. Think: a beach clean-up for Earth Day and supporting the Sunflower Fund for September (a month traditionally focused on cancer awareness).
Dream Theme
Choosing themes helped this power duo “narrow it down and at the same time, [reach] different organisations,” says Annerie. By committing to a cause per month, Shannon points out that TTT is able to “help more by focusing on one [initiative] at a time.”
We agree. We’ve seen how each charity we focus on benefits from our fully engaged investment. When we visited Mazarat Animal Rescue for Puppy Day, instead of only two staff taking turns to walk the dogs, our massive team could walk them all in one go. Which the doggies loved, as you can imagine!
“The dogs were walking us at one point… It was just so precious,” says Annerie.
Leaving an impact, one theme at a time
Not only has TTT-Tax helped numerous charities, these community outreach initiatives have impacted our staff. “It’s so fulfilling, personally, to be able to help people,” says Annerie. Her and Shannon both agree that this CSR is fuelled by “inspiration from Johan and Ros… [who have] always wanted to leave this positive impact.” (BTW, Johan is Roscoe’s dad and our other managing director).
As Annerie says, “it’s always been about making that impact and encouraging people.” We post these initiatives on our Facebook page, partly to share the good news but also to draw attention to these smaller, but very important, causes. As Shannon says, it’s an added bonus to “get traction to those places”.
“At the same time, they’re also these mini-team buildings because you get to know each other,” says Annerie. Triple threat: making a difference; highlighting something important; and getting to know our team. (Oh, and walking those puppies – can’t forget that amazing benefit!)
Securing rebates – for tax and the community
What these two help the TTT Team achieve is impressive. And that’s even before you consider the madness of tax season and how much pressure our team is under for roughly half the year. When we ask Shannon about this challenge, she says that in “the filing season from July until October/November, [the community initiatives are] a bit staggered.”
During tax season, TTT focuses on social investments that don’t pressure the team too much, such as donating clothes and money. Whereas, in the off-season, the focus is on contributing time and care and, as Annerie says, “the effort we can put in”. We never just write a cheque to a random foundation we know nothing about, off-season or not.
Shannon and Annerie clearly invest a lot of effort into these CSR projects. As they chat about a possible “donate-off” with another company (I’ll show you my charity work if you show me yours), it’s clear that they constantly brainstorm these upliftments. They really care.
Oh, and as if all of this wasn’t enough, they help the team stay true to the commitment of donating blood every two months. Which means that every second month TTT-Tax Services gives back to the community in two ways: with a blood donation drive and with a themed initiative.
Let’s face it: People are generally good and they generally want to DO good. But they don’t have the time or energy to find out how to do it. Luckily for us here at the team, we have two wonderwomen willing to put in the legwork for us. If we’re in a position to help, we must. And, as Shannon says, “with the company getting bigger [TTT-Tax has] the resources to be able to help the community”. And help the community, we will!
Take the terrifying out of tax: https://ttt-tax.co.za/
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