Mercedes 2008 Annual Report Download - page 116

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Multifaceted social commitment. Daimler operates all over the
world. We regard this as an opportunity and a duty to accept
social responsibility and to contribute to improving understand-
ing between different cultures. In our capacity as a business
enterprise, we aim to create value for all of our stakeholders.
We use four instruments in our involvement in various areas:
donations, sponsoring, the promotion of foundations, and practi-
cal support such as providing voluntary assistance through our
employees and passing along our expertise. Depending on each
individual project, we use these tools in the areas of society that
we have defined as the focal points of our social involvement: the
promotion of education, science and culture, as well as support
for sports and charitable projects, including disaster relief aid.
Since 2007, we have reorganized the decision-making processes
for our social commitment and created even more transparent
structures. Among other things, we have set up a committee for
donations and sponsoring and created a database in which all
of the Group’s activities in the areas of donations and sponsoring
are registered. In the year under review, Daimler provided finan-
cial support totaling €42 million for socially oriented projects and
nonprofit institutions.
Generous donations. One particular focus of our donations is
the promotion of science, which accounts for the largest propor-
tion of the total. We also focus on the promotion of education,
charitable projects, and disaster relief.
It is very important to us to promote the transfer of knowledge
between universities, research institutes and industrial companies
as a means of stimulating innovation. For many years now, we
have been one of the biggest supporters of the Donors’ Associa-
tion of German Science through our special Daimler Fund.
This fund, which has an annual donation volume of approximately
€2 million, supports, among other things, endowed professor-
ships and startup financing, as well as promoting international
scientific cooperation. For example, a fixed-purpose donation
to the German Academic Exchange Service made it possible to
establish an endowed chair for vehicle technology at Tongji Uni-
versity in Shanghai. The Daimler Fund also supports one of the
most important scientific awards in Germany: the German
Future Prize, which is awarded by the President of Germany.
We also promote education outside the universities, for example
through a natural-gas-powered Mercedes Sprinter that functions
as a mobile education center for the German Society for Nature
Conservation (NABU) in the Swabian Alb biosphere region. Another
example is a Thomas Built bus that serves as a mobile digital
production studio. The bus is deployed on behalf of the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and helps to make
modern technology accessible to schools and students in remote
regions of the United States. We also provide funding for the
promotion of young talent by organizations such as the German
National Music Council, which offers various forms of support
for talented young musicians. And Mercedes-Benz Turkey has
launched a program to help Turkish girls to discover their talent
and enthusiasm for technical subjects.
Above all, we are committed to charitable projects in the places
where our production plants and sales-and-service branches are
located. We provide assistance by donating money and vehicles,
often in joint initiatives with partners from government, business,
clubs and associations.
By providing targeted donations to various disaster relief organiza-
tions, we have also been able to alleviate dire need and improve
precarious living conditions in situations such as the aftermath of
the earthquake in China and the cyclone in Myanmar.
Sponsorship in the fields of sports, education, and culture.
We sponsor professional sports and mass participation sports as
well as lifestyle activities, especially by promoting education, art,
and culture. For example, the Mercedes-Benz “Children’s Univer-
sity” has designed an experience-oriented exhibition called
“Feel free to copy!” which invites young researchers aged between
six and 12 to discover fascinating links between nature and tech-
nology. The traveling exhibition, which we developed in coopera-
tion with the Bionics Center of Darmstadt Technical University,
is making stops in various German cities. In addition, through our
Mondialogo initiative we are cooperating with UNESCO to promote
ideas for protecting the climate and combating poverty.
In the area of culture, through our sponsoring we enable many
initiatives to improve their financial standing and enhance their
impact. Many exhibitions and museums benefited from our
involvement in 2008. The range of musical events we supported
extended from opera to rock concerts. In most cases, the event
highlighted a social issue as well as the music itself.
Social Responsibility. Support for charitable institutions and
projects. Promotion of science and education. Focus on fostering
intercultural understanding.