SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS: ANALYSIS OF MODERN PRACTICES OF SUPPORT OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH

ABSTRACT

In this article are reviewed modern practices of support of children and youth in the context of social responsibility of business and the corporate volunteering.

Keywords: the corporate volunteering, social responsibility of business, corporate culture, youth, children.

The constant changes, which are a characteristic feature of the modern business, reflect the transformation, taking place in our society. Business today is facing growing demand and the necessity to play an increasingly important role in solving social problems. Many companies have created corporate social responsibility programs as a supporting means for those in need. These programs are presented in the various forms: from donations to gifts in kind form or services of the company's own activities.

The spread of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has opened the door wide for the dialogue between the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGO), the aspiration of which consists in the creation of innovations in social interaction: new models of cooperation, that combine social and corporate goals driven by business [1].

In this area, exists a number of different opportunities for action, which can be aimed at accelerating the country's economic and social growth. Among these opportunities, corporate volunteering appears as one of the most interesting strategy for enterprises.

In this work, by the term “corporate volunteering” we mean the organization of volunteer activities of company employees, which favorably affects the growth of the civic engagement in society.

At present, the culture of corporate volunteering is actively developing in Russian companies. According to the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (ARPORC), more than a quarter (28%) of employees (including 17% - repeatedly, 11% - one-time) participated in volunteer events implemented by the employer company. Every fourth employee works in an organization that provides targeted assistance (traveling, personal communication with sponsees) - 28%, in an organization that cooperates with charitable organizations - 25%, every fifth - in an organization implementing the “pro bono” program (professional assistance to socially vulnerable groups) - 18% [5]. In the course of synergy between business and volunteering, it becomes possible to create the most effective socially positive interaction.

Volunteer programs implemented by enterprises with the participation of their employees, cover various areas of the charitable support and help to solve a wide range of problems. The most common areas of corporate volunteering nowadays are education, culture, medicine, sports, support of children and youth and the environment.

Researches on youth problematics became one of the most actively developed areas of the voluntary support. That happened mainly because the young generation not only determines the prospects for the development of the state, but, also, as an active subject of the social reproduction, plays crucial role in shaping the future [3].

In the practice of corporate volunteering, the experience of “Citibank” JSC (joint - stock company) is quite remarkable. In conjunction with the “Kind City Petersburg” Fund’s charity city festival “KIND PITER”, the company annually organizes “the Day of Social Initiatives”. The event is represented as a charity quest, during which participants are acquainted with non-profit organizations: five charity stations offer volunteers different interactive tasks. In addition, the participants have the opportunity to compete in sport activities: sports races and bicycle rides on different distances. “Citibank” JSC made charitable donations for the each participant. As a result, a donation fund from the “Citibank” was parceled out between five non-profit organizations-participants, which support children and youth.

Employees of the “Sberbank” PJSC (public joined - stock company) can boast about an interesting experience in events within the framework of corporate volunteering. The annual campaign “Good New Year's Gift” implies the organization of educational activities for children with special educational needs. Classes help children to gain new knowledge, skills and experience necessary for a full-fledged existence in the modern world. They are aimed at preparing children for kindergarten and school, adapting children to independent life, correcting and developing children with special educational needs, mastering the profession, inclusive sports, and creative rehabilitation. In 2018, 21 public organizations from 18 regions of the country held more than 18,000 individual and group developmental classes for 1,600 children left without parental care.

Kia Motors Russia & CIS corporate volunteers collaborate in several areas with the charity foundation “Give Life”, which was founded in 2006 to help children with the oncological, the hematological and other serious diseases. The company also provides support to orphanages in Russia, including a project to provide the Center for the Promotion of Family Education “Faith. Hope. Love” in Moscow with the necessary pieces of furniture and interior to create in the groups a home and family atmosphere that is so often lacking for orphans and children left without parental care. Kia Motors Russia & CIS also organizes leisure and entertainment events for the mobility-impaired students of the Center.

As a part of the implementation of the corporate volunteering program for the company “Factory of Information Technologies” LLC (Belgorod), we have proposed the development and implementation of a grant competition project for SB NPOs (socially beneficial non-profit organizations). The purpose of this project is to support the best practices of socially beneficial NPOs in the field of volunteering, as well as to combine the efforts of corporate volunteers from the direction “FIT. Dobro”. It is assumed that the grant supports for social projects initiated by Belgorod NPOs’ will include different areas. This main areas will be: support of the voluntary and goodwill initiatives (social volunteering); projects connected with the career aspirations of youth (occupational guidance and entrepreneurial projects); support of the creative youth (socio-cultural projects); support of the interethnic and interregional interaction (social projects aimed at the studying of the historical and cultural heritage of Russia, the formation of tolerance and the prevention of extremism among young people); support of the student initiatives; involvement of the young people in the social practice and informing young people about the opportunities for self-development.

Thus, the analysis of corporate volunteering implementation practices shows that a trend has emerged when companies cease to be passive donors that respond to society’s needs, but they themselves actively propose their own solutions to various social problems.

References:

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