Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), much more than philanthropy

Along the same lines as our international strategy “ One Plan, One Goal”, which seeks to drive greater numbers of opportunities for association and collaboration between different partners, Plan International has taken on the commitment to enter into more active collaboration with the private sector.

As an organisation, we have greater opportunities to achieve a positive impact to guarantee children’s rights if we cooperate and work together both internally and with all external social agents: the public, organisations and public authorities.

As a consequence we are faced with an excellent opportunity to carry on moving forward and fighting for the rights of children.

We are witnesses to the change brought on by CSR policies in private enterprises, given that these companies are now perceived as part of the solution in the challenge of attaining greater development at global level. Traditionally, these corporations were seen as part of the problem hampering the development of communities across the whole world. Due to this change of attitude, companies and NGOs are now working together in new collaborative channels, leaving the aspect of mere financial collaboration to one side, with an impact on all corporate areas: the supervision of suppliers, environmental responsibility, the organisation of volunteers and respect for workers’ rights, among others.

It is as such that innovative initiatives are launched aimed at promoting international development.

In short, for organisations such as Plan International, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goes far beyond traditional philanthropy. It is an organisational strategy with important social benefits.

Our collaborations

As an example of this strategy, Plan International has carried out different collaborative projects with organisations including Ferrovial, Baker & Mckinsey, the Crecer Jugando Foundation, Santander Bank and Famosa.

• Ferrovial collaborated by funding a project to provide water and sanitation services in the Cajamarca region of Peru. The collaboration of the company’s professional services in areas falling within its own sphere of activity, such as consultancy, legal advice and so on.
• Baker & Mckinsey is collaborating with Plan International providing free multidisciplinary legal advice. Donations in kind: donations of company products.
• The Crecer Jugando Foundation, thanks to its “One toy, one dream” campaign, donates toys to the value of 75,000 Euros to Plan International in Spain, which are distributed between five Ibero-American countries. Co-branding Initiatives: joint co-branding and visibility activities which contribute to popularising both organisations’ brands, taking advantage of any of their channels of communication or their own products.
• Famosa created the “Because I am a Girl” Nancy doll, with the aim of supporting Plan International’s “Because I am a Girl” campaign. With the funds raised by Famosa it has been possible to provide hundreds of girls with study grants. The collaboration of employees through volunteer work or helping to raise funds though companies holding charity days, the translation of letters from sponsored children, charity treasure hunts and car-boot sales and so on.
• The employees of Santander Bank chose Plan International as one of the companies to benefit from its wage rounding-up programme, which could go towards helping children affected by Ebola in Conakry, Guinea.

Where is CSR heading?

From the point of view of the NGOs, it is important that, as a sector, we continue to collaborate with companies and for our CSR objectives to be increasingly ambitious. For Plan International, the challenge is to position the organisation as one of companies’ favourite partners when it comes to establishing collaborative relations which, with a focus based on upholding children’s rights, enables us to provide large-scale transformative change in some of the most deprived communities.

The organisation is attempting to establish collaborative relations in line with its “One Plan, One Goal” strategy to promote cooperation with partners and consolidate already existing partnerships. Furthermore, new strategic agreements are coming into view which will enable us to play a more visible role in the main corporate forums and networks.

In conclusion, Plan International will do everything that is possible to prioritise the education, protection and inclusion of children, promoting partnerships that improve our organisational capacity and enable us to pursue our global strategy. Although there are still details to be finalised, we are now ready and able to make progress towards our objectives.

About Plan and Ferrovial

Ferrovial and Plan carried out a project between 2012 and 2014 to guarantee the coverage, quality and supply of drinking water to the houses in San Marcos, Cajamarca region (Peru).

This partnership has enabled 2,280 people in four different communities to enhance their living conditions by drinking safe water and improving their hygiene and health care habits.

This is another one of the projects of the “Social Infrastructure” programme, which is aimed at improving and extending the coverage and supply of water for human consumption and basic sanitation for collectives at risk of social vulnerability in Africa and Latin America.