Nokia donation takes corporate responsibility out to the people

Nokia China this month announced that it will give Euro6 million (HK$68.3 million) to non-governmental organisation Plan China to finance more than 1,200 nursery and early childhood care centres across the country.

For multinationals in the mainland, corporate social responsibility used to mean good management of supply chains or handing over cash to government organisations running public benefit programmes.

But as grass-roots non-government organisations grow and more international NGOs gain a foothold in the country, multinationals are increasingly looking for specialist partners to help establish projects emphasising aspects of the company brand and serving the community.

'CSR projects used to mean making philanthropic donations to large non-government groups or training Chinese firms in international corporate governance and western business ethics,' said Felicia Pullam, who leads the Asian corporate responsibility team at Apco, an investment and communications consultancy.

'Although companies commonly work with NGOs globally, many managers in China have not felt comfortable approaching civil society. But there's definitely space to operate now.'

Colin Giles, president of Nokia China, said: 'Education is a core component of our corporate social responsibility programme. The key is to ensure that the project really happens which means you need the right partner.'