A donors' forum can make a difference: the rise of Czech CSR

‘You might not know us. But you know the results of our work!’ That was the slogan of the Czech Donors´ Forum (CDF) campaign last year to mark our tenth anniversary. It defines the role we play: we are innovators and are introducing many new products that stimulate giving in our country. In fact, our ’products’ are much better known than we are. Our flagship product, the text message giving service DMS, is used by most Czech citizens and has helped to stimulate giving in our country. Our approach can be summarised as: sometimes we make them move, sometimes they make us move. The CDF has always focused on two main areas, first, setting standards and principles of best practice among donors; second, making our services far more professional to meet corporate and foundation partners’ expectations and sometimes competition from private businesses.

Besides celebrating our anniversary, we also decided to stop and think about our achievements, challenges, future direction, and strategy. CDF is, like all donors’ fora, the national umbrella organisation for donors, both grant-making foundations and companies. We currently have around 80 members. Over the past three years, CDF’s position has shifted towards being a more respected agency for philanthropy and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Czech Republic that has also gained authority with the media and government. We also partner with academia and have developed a new degree at the Business University on the non-profit sector and corporate responsibility. .

Foundations’ role and image.

One of our areas of interest is grant-making foundations – besides introducing standards, providing consultations, and practical training on communication, CDF is also trying to improve the image and credibility of foundations in society. To assess qualitative changes, we have conducted public polls on foundations’ image. Almost 90% of the Czech public understands the financial role of foundations (this is important, given the difference from other forms of non-profit organisation) and 83% of people think foundations support issues which are on the fringes of public or government attention but which improve the quality of people’s lives. The results confirm that foundations have gained respect. .

Corporate giving.

The other reason for our rethink was the changing conditions in the Czech Republic which have resulted from new resources such as structural EU grants, increasing giving, and companies’ changing role in giving and corporate responsibility. Over the last few years especially, we’ve helped shift corporate giving from an ad hoc approach to being a central part of a company’s business strategy. Not only are there growing numbers of companies that give, there is also an increased spectrum of resources that companies use to contribute to good causes, and a professional long-term approach. This shift stems from increased pressure by company customers and employees. Among the things people now expect from companies are new issues like organic products, hybrid motors, energy saving and active participation in public interest issues. People want companies to behave responsibly, and eight out of ten want them to give part of their profits to the community. . .

In recent years, corporate philanthropy has become a key part of the corporate structure. This can have a major impact on the company’s market value and reputation. Companies must think not only about how they make their money, but also how they integrate into society, as well as issues relating to transparency, customer relations and corporate governance. Now, among the big companies that operate in our country you won’t find a single one that isn’t involved in the community to some degree. Even Czech-owned companies are moving into CSR. .

How CDF stimulates corporate involvement.

A crucial point in developing community involvement by companies was the launch of public benchmarking in corporate community investment. To do this we developed the Top Corporate Philanthropist List which we have now published annually for the last five years. The list provided the first public information on the size of corporate donations, also in relation to their pre-tax profits, and positive CSR-related competition among companies. Over the past two years we in the CEENERGI network have introduced the list in other central and eastern European countries. .

The other fast-growing area is employee involvement in non-profit organisations and their projects. We helped introduce this concept to Czech companies while partnering with big firms and running a promotion campaign. CDF acts as a consultant to companies preparing their strategy in this area and to non-profits which want to work with corporate employees, and also as a match-maker between the two sides. CDF also motivates companies to launch such programmes. Our research shows that 40% of 30-44 year-old employees want their employer to ‘give’ at least one paid day a year for corporate volunteering. This year we have acted as a broker for over 2,000 corporate employees, which leads to more strategic corporate involvement in the NGO community and the promotion of individual giving in terms of time or money, as these employees learn more about NGOs than they would from huge media campaigns. At present, we are working with many companies, both multinational and local, on their employee engagement programmes. To be more effective, we launched the ’Get Involved’ programme to match NGO needs and corporate skills. .