Mercedes 2010 Annual Report Download - page 150

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Social Responsibility
We regard our social commitment as a fundamental element of our business activities. We therefore
support the interests of society as a whole and are involved in the communities where we do business.
In 2010, we continued our activities in the areas of corporate volunteering, foundations and community
relations, and we supported various initiatives with donations and sponsorship.
We decide on specific regional areas of activity in close coordi-
nation with our national subsidiaries and production locations.
In 2010, Daimler provided financial support totaling more than
€51 million for socially oriented projects and charitable institu-
tions. In addition, we increased
the capital of the Daimler and
Benz Foundation by
€88 million .
We also act in accordance with clear guidelines when making
donations to political parties. According to these rules, dona-
tions to political parties generally require authorization from the
Board of Management and are at present only permitted for
parties in Germany.
Donations. Our donation activities focus on the promotion of
science and education, support for charitable projects, and
disaster relief. Because disaster relief has to be quick and effec-
tive, we established a special process for it in 2009. This enabled
us to react promptly to the earthquake in Haiti in January and
the catastrophic floods in Pakistan in July and August 2010, and
to support the appropriate aid projects.
Since 2009, Daimler has also supported, among other institu-
tions, Deutsche Cleft-Kinder-Hilfe, a charitable organization that
supports the comprehensive treatment of children with cleft
palates all over the world. In India, we funded the construction
of a new aid center in Mumbai aimed at helping local people to
help themselves, and we are supporting its ongoing operation.
Sponsorship in the fields of education, sports and culture.
Through our sponsorship activities, we aim to promote sustain-
able development in key areas of social responsibility. This refers
in particular to education, the environment, the arts and culture
in those places where we have business locations. For example,
we have been a sponsor of the Stuttgart Staatsgalerie art
museum for many years, thus creating cultural and educational
opportunities for Daimler employees and their families and
many others.
The reasons for our policy of social commitment. Our
company interacts in many different ways with its social envi-
ronment in all the places where we have business locations.
We regard these relationships as both an opportunity and an
obligation. They affect the roles we play as an employer, client,
service provider and automaker, as well as our overall sense of
being a corporate citizen. We aim to create value for all of our
stakeholders. That is why we are involved in society in general
and at our business locations, and why we help to develop
regulatory frameworks for society.
We regard this as a fundamental component of our business
activities. We provide social support through donations, spon-
sorship, corporate volunteering, foundations and community
relations – with a clear focus on certain themes. We promote
cultural activities, education, science, sports and health, as well
as charitable projects, and we also provide speedy short-term
assistance for the victims of natural catastrophes. In the process,
we take into account the specific requirements of our business
locations as well as the interests of society in general, and we
prioritize close contacts with local communities and social
institutions.
Transparent management. We set high quality standards for
our social involvement and we have created transparent struc-
tures and clear lines of responsibility for our distribution of financial
aid. Our Donations and Sponsorship Committee makes its
decisions on the basis of well-defined support criteria. We regis-
ter all of the Group’s activities in the areas of donations and
sponsorship in a database. In 2009, we also approved sponsor-
ship guidelines as a basis for a transparent awards process.
It is designed to help ensure that our donations are in compli-
ance with current legal requirements and ethical standards.