The survey Philanthropy in Central & Eastern Europe 2020 clearly indicates that 65% of individual donors want to increase their philanthropic giving. More and more companies are starting to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner, motivated by increasingly conscious employees, investors, and consumers. 39% of Czechs are already willing to pay more for products and services offered by socially responsible brands.
One thing is certain – individuals and businesses have more and more resources and willingness to effectively tackle social and environmental challenges. What barriers stand in their way? To see recommendations for changes, prepared in collaboration with organizations that are shaping the Czech impact ecosystem, please download the free report below.
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Consultations’ Participants
AMSP
Ashoka
Association of Social Responsibility
AVPO CR
CEZ Group
Coalition for Easy Giving
Czech Invest
EY
Frank Bold
Glopolis
Lidl Czech Republic
Prague University of Economics and Business
Silke Horakova
The Via Foundation
Vodafone
COUNTRY PROFILE
The Czech Republic is characterized by a well-developed social ecosystem, so the country is often presented as a role model for the CEE region. “Philanthropy in Central & Eastern Europe 2020” research indicated that this is where average donations were highest in terms of value, as compared to Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Recent years have seen the importance of social responsibility grow significantly in the Czech Republic. More and more people are aware of and interested in this issue. A series of major crises (COVID-19, tornado in Moravia, war in Ukraine) has convinced Czechs that mutual support and assistance is crucial. The social sector and the public administration should nurture the accumulated social capital and cultivate the willingness of citizens to act. Not only in times of crisis.
To read more, download the reportLEGAL & TAX
Postulates & Recommendations
Recommendation: Simplifying the law, creating incentives, and providing explanations for the more complex regulations are necessary for stakeholders to easily interpret the rules, so that the law does not hinder them from increasing their giving.
Recommendation: A financial analysis is needed to verify whether the introduction of the increased tax relief limit has contributed to an increase in donations; if so, maintaining it and making it the new normal should be considered. The mechanism should also be further simplified.
Recommendation: There is a need to create more exceptions to the general rule, preferably in line with the state’s social and environmental strategy. At present the only relevant VAT exemption pertains to the supply of goods to recognized humanitarian and charitable organizations that subsequently export the goods outside the EU (e.g., to Ukraine) as part of their humanitarian, charitable, or educational activity.
Recommendation: There is a need to modify Czech law to allow for VAT-advantageous treatment of pro bono services and to spread education and knowledge on how pro bono services can be provided in the most VAT-efficient manner.
Recommendation: In the short term, the already existing public collection platforms can be used by third parties. A long-term solution would be to introduce legislative modifications aiming to strike a new balance between protecting the general public against fraudulent collections and serving legitimate social interests by simplifying, de-bureaucratizing, and encouraging giving.
Recommendation: Legislative modifications are necessary to create new opportunities for employees to volunteer within and not only outside the employment relationship. For example, volunteering activity could be considered as performance of work under the employment contract upon meeting certain conditions (such as an agreement between the employer and the employee).
Recommendation: Promote more extensive use of the social enterprise by granting it tax reliefs similar to those currently in existence for the category of publicly beneficial taxpayers.
“SOFT” ACTIONS
Postulates & Recommendations
Recommendation: Share best practices, initiate intra- and cross-sector cooperation. Create a space to exchange perspectives, promote collaboration and collect reliable data. A single, comprehensive, universal and accessible source of knowledge will help facilitate collaboration and prioritize actions.
Recommendation: Conduct educational activities related to social involvement at all possible levels. Training for companies, nonprofits, and public institutions. Providing soft skills education on topics such as working with different actors and opinions.
Recommendation: Put greater emphasis on systemic approaches in businesses. Businesses should be encouraged to adopt approaches based on impact calculations and qualitative measures of success. ESG/CSR teams should be strengthened.
Recommendation: Pay attention to these groups; explore their motivations, needs, and challenges and address them. Create tools and campaigns in line with their way of thinking and acting. Continuously increasing the involvement of this segment is crucial to popularizing social engagement.
Recommendation: Move from short-term projects to long-term, strategy-driven actions. Introducing soft criteria to evaluate initiatives in the grantmaking process and benefits for tenderers who support social and environmental causes. Long-term funding of social sector actors must be created.
Recommendation: Promote role models among businesses and their leaders as well as individuals. Good practices should be used to grow the engagement.
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