Corporate Philanthropy in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Large corporations make only 0.2% of the total number of companies in the Czech Republic. On the other hand their influence on the society is enormous. This paper deals mainly with large companies that were able to incorporate the philanthropic activities in their business strategy. Based on the analysis of secondary data provided by the companies the aim of this paper is to identify the key areas of corporate philanthropy these companies focus on, describe the common characteristics and find the ways of corporate philanthropy that could be used by small and medium sized companies in the Czech Republic. SMEs have 99.8% in the total amount of companies in the Czech Republic and they employ 68.5% of employees. This fact makes them important and it is necessary to ensure their future competitiveness. Large companies usually focus on a long-term partnership with a certain NGO. The second most often activity is establishment of their own corporate foundation or endowment fund. Most often supported areas are children, family and young people. Large companies also support education. The three areas that were not supported (or just minimally) by the analyzed large companies were animals, homeless and old people. This could be a gap where the small and medium sized companies may fit in. There are two options how to do it. Individually by direct support or individual cooperation, and the second option is to cooperate with other companies from the same field, region or branch in the form of association, joint fund etc. The second way could be more beneficial for both parts – profit and non-profit organizations. These results could serve as a pre-research for the next more extensive study of philanthropy in the Czech Republic.