Corporate Citizenship: Three core elements for society
To align our social engagement more to our strategy and corporate objectives and to communicate it more clearly and transparent we have structured our global activities around three core elements:
- MIT (Make an Impact on Tomorrow) – Employee engagement
- Emergency aid in response to natural catastrophes
- Social Partnerships – Corporate and brand engagement
Some 750,000 people were helped worldwide through Henkel Smile projects in 2011.
Focus on employee volunteering
In Germany, it has been supported since 1998 through the Make an Impact on Tomorrow (MIT) initiative. Since 2002, MIT has been operating internationally. By now, we devote some 50 percent of our funds available internationally for MIT projects. We support activities in the areas of social needs, education and science, health, culture and ecology. Employees and retirees who do volunteer work in their free time may obtain funding for their project of up to 10,000 euros, five days paid time off from work, or product donations. Professional advice from staff in the donations department is also available at any time to employees and retirees.
Emergency aid in response to natural catastrophes
When natural catastrophes occur, Henkel is quick to respond with immediate aid, donated via the Fritz Henkel Foundation with minimum bureaucracy wherever it is needed worldwide. The company provides direct financial support or in-kind donations to populations in need. Special care is taken to ensure that all donations reach the people for whom they are intended.
Social Partnerships – Corporate and brand Engagement for the common good
Through social partnerships, we mainly support social initiatives in the communities where our sites are located throughout the world. In social partnerships, Henkel and its brands support training and continuing education and facilitate access to knowledge. Social partnerships strengthen the link between the steadily expanding social aspects of our sponsoring activities and our social engagement, while always maintaining a strict distinction between donations and sponsoring. We have been able to inspire numerous partners to join us in assuming responsibility and providing support for social projects. Through Corporate Donations, we support social initiatives and public institutions around the world. One of the main aims of our donations initiative is to invest in training and continuing education, and to make knowledge accessible. Political parties are not supported.
Example: Cooperation with Egyptian Food Bank
Our alignment toward sustainability also encompasses the social engagement of our brands. In Egypt, for example, our Pril brand has cooperated with the charitable Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) since 2008. The bank’s mission is to provide orphans, senior citizens, widows, socially disadvantaged families, and other needy persons with food.
Five percent of the sales revenue of each sold Pril bottle goes to the EFB. Since the start of this engagement, Pril donations have been used to support more than one million people in Egypt. From 2011, similar programs will be supported by local Henkel brands in other countries of North Africa.
