Corporate Volunteering in the EU Countries

The article examines the main features of corporate volunteering in the European Union. Firstly, the place of these activities both in corporate social responsibility and in voluntary work is assessed. The motives for participation in corporate volunteering by companies and employees are explained as well. Secondly, specifics of EU member states are studied. The analysis is based on 4-7-years old Eurobarometer statistics on volunteering activities, the results of some questionnaires of Western researchers and the author’s investigation of websites and sustainability reports of leading companies for 2014 from the EU. Although corporate volunteering has become popular, many companies prefer other forms of corporate social responsibility, especially in the oil & gas industry and some other sectors. Moreover, corporate volunteering is popular mainly in countries with developed traditions of voluntary work. Thus, corporate volunteering is only an additional institutional form of voluntary work. In fact, companies prefer to support their employees volunteering projects (sometimes within selected priorities) or give employees one-day vacations for their voluntary work with non-profit organizations. It means that companies do not consider volunteering as a PR-asset. Indeed, they usually choose corporate charity or social marketing for PR-purposes. Only few European companies prefer to develop their own volunteering programs (usually within their business specialization – e.g. in healthcare by pharmaceutical. companies). However, corporate volunteering significantly supports voluntary work in some European countries by additional financial resources and new categories of volunteers. The most interesting category is young specialists who are eager to develop their communication skills within their company and acquire new live experience and new competences, but it does not mean that such volunteers are only career-driven.

1. Bachinskaya T. (ed.) (2011). Korporativnoye volontyorstrvo v Rossii. Sbornik luchshih praktik [Corporate Volunteering in Russia: Collection of Best Practicies]. Moscow: Center of development of philanthropy “Soprichastrnost’”. 118 pp.

2. Bartsch G. (2010). Corporate Volunteering – ein Blickwechsel mit Folgen. In: Corporate Citizenship in Deutschland. 2., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag f r Sozialwissenschaften. P. 388-400.

3. DG EAC (Directorate General Education and Culture of the European Commission). (2010). Volunteering in the European Union. Final Report submitted by GHK. Brussels: GHK. 326 pp.

4. Eurobarometer. (2011). European Parliament Special Eurobarometer 75.2. Voluntary work. Summary. Brussels. 21 pp.

5. Herzig Ch. (2006). Corporate volunteering in Germany: survey and empirical evidence. International Journal of Business Environment. Vol. 1. No. 1. P. 51-69.

6. Hustinx L., Lammertyn F. (2003). Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering: A Sociological Modernization Perspective. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. Vol. 14. No. 2 (June). P. 167-187.

7. Krasnopol’skaya I. (2012). Korporativnoye volonterstvo v Rossii: osnovniye kharakteristiki [Corporate Volunteering in Russia: Main Features]. In: Korporativnoye volontyorstvo v Rossii. Sbornik luchshih praktik. Ed. by T. Bachinskaya. Second edition. Moscow: Center of development of philanthropy “Soprichastrnost”. P. 36-42.

8. Paсo A. do, Agostinho D., Nave A. (2013). Corporate versus non-profit volunteering – do the volunteers’ motivations significantly differ? International Review on Public and Non-Profit Marketing. Vol. 10. No. 3 (October). P. 221-233.

9. Pevnaya M.V. (2013). Volontyorstvo kak sotsiologicheskaya problema [Volunteering as a Sociological Problem]. Sotsiologicheskiye Issledovaniya. №2. P. 110-119.

10. Peregudov S.P., Semenenko I.S. (2008). Korporativnoye grazhdanstvo: kontseptsii, mirovaya praktika i rossiyskii realii [Corporate Citizenship: Concepts, Foreign Practice and Russian Realities]. Moscow: Progress-Traditsiya. 448 pp.

11. Ponomaryov S.V. (2014). Korporativnaya sotsial’naya otvetstvennost’ v Evrope: chto nuzhno znat’ predprinimatelyu, vikhodyaschemu na evropeyskiye rinki [Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe: What should know a businessman by his expansion in European markets]. Perm: Perm Trade and Industrial Chamber. 37 pp.

12. Schenkel M., Ermano P., Marino D. (2014). Recent Trends in the Supply and Demand of Volunteers. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management. Vol. 4. No. 6. P. 319-331.

13. Schlichter A.A. (2010). Napravleniya i mekhanizmi vzaimodeystviya sotsial’no-otvetstvennogo biznesa s nekommercheskim sektorom SShA [Directions and Mechanisms of Interaction between the Socially Responsible Business and Non-commercial Sector in the United States]. Moscow: IMEMO. 104 pp.