Individuals and businesses have more and more resources and willingness to tackle the most pressing social and environmental challenges. Companies are starting to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner, motivated by increasingly conscious employees, investors, and consumers. As many as 35% of Slovenians (source: Philanthropy in Central & Eastern Europe 2022) are already willing to pay more for products and services offered by socially responsible brands. Understanding what stands in the way to a greater social engagement is in the best interest of us all.
It is our hope that the recommendations, prepared in collaboration with organizations that are shaping the Slovenian social impact ecosystem, will be helpful in establishing priorities and directing further action.
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Consultations’ Participants
Centre of Business Excellence, University of Ljubljana
Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
FUND2740 – High Impact Foundation
IEDC Bled School of Management
Institute for Economic Research (IER)
IRDO – Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility
Managers’ Association of Slovenia
Ministry of Public Administration of Republic of Slovenia
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences
COUNTRY PROFILE
Taking into consideration the history of this country, social involvement is strongly embedded in Slovenian society as such, it is an important characteristic of the Slovenian society. Both individuals and companies take active part in building and supporting the local community. Many Slovenians become involved in crisis situations. Several members of Slovenian society become involved when crisis appears or when demanding situations occur. Undoubtedly, the country is currently in a period of transition when it comes to the development of the social engagement.
To read more, download the reportLEGAL & TAX
Barriers & Recommendations
Recommendation: Encouraging Slovenian citizens to unlock their personal income for social good by introducing tax incentives for individual donors, in addition to a currently existing tax redistribution scheme. To open a discussion on tax breaks for corporate donors – what kind of tax incentives would encourage them to get engaged in social issues more with their capital, skills of their employees, etc.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Creating a dedicated fund where the government would allocate funds not assigned by taxpayers and using them to grow capacity of the civil society organizations and the infrastructure organizations.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Introducing tax incentives for investors interested in this field (e.g. lower tax on exit) which would offset the risk connected with entry barriers could potentially have a positive impact on their activity in this field and extending the scale of support offered to startups.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Introducing social impact component as a requirement in mainstream funding mechanisms coming from the public institutions’ side (national, EU funds) for business entities, start-ups and investors. Including such a component in the analysis of all the enterprises supported with public funding.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Creating a single point of entry for social entrepreneurs in an institutional framework. Increasing the reach of existing public and private financial instruments for social enterprises, as well as the types and diversity of financial mechanisms available to social enterprises. Promoting market access for social enterprises in public procurement. Redefining the image of social enterprises, as they are often perceived as small companies driven solely by their philosophy, not as potential partners in business.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Creating the right legal context that may facilitate the growth of the commercial activity of nonprofits; the legislation should be less stringent in this respect. It is worth looking at the solutions applicable on other CEE markets where income generated on for profit activity, with certain limits of such income in the overall income of the nonprofit organization, is tax exempt as long as it is used to achieve the statutory goals of the organization.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Introducing additional social criteria in the public procurement law that would reward corporate donors with extra points or other preferential treatment in public tenders. It would be worth considering some form of certification of companies, like ISO standards, that could be used by contracting entities to verify is a contractor (company) meets such criteria.
To read more, download the report“SOFT” ACTIONS
Postulates & Recommendations
Recommendation: It is relevant to show end-benefits so that decision-makers understand the direct and indirect advantages social engagement may bring. Among the ones worth emphasizing is the reduction of business risk, increased employee and customer satisfaction, and potentially better access to capital. A long-term, measured impact can also be a tool for building competitive advantage and innovation.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Introducing coherent educational strategy for various groups (business, social sector, investors). Introducing social engagement issues at the earlier stages of education. Increasing the promotion of current activities carried out by universities. Introducing internal goals/KPIs and assessment by universities of integrating sustainability issues into all courses of study by lecturers. Sharing best practices.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Getting to know and understanding other market players is likely to increase chances to reach mutual understanding and extend the scale of cooperation, and, in the end, positive impact. What’s important is a silos breaking approach and a macro-level coordination which would initiate cooperation and increase mutual understanding of the goals. The public sector or infrastructure organizations might serve as a coordinator and encourage different sectors to engage in more active cooperation.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: There is a need to strengthen infrastructure organizations and provide funding for their activities. They can grow cooperation and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience among sectors. For effective action, strong organizations are needed to motivate and coordinate such activities and initiatives.
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: The area of investing in non-traditional impact providers is expanding in an interesting direction and it is worth providing education, information and initiating cooperation between both, capital providers and impact providers (even more so as there are already a few initiatives operating in Slovenia that use impact when analyzing a potential investments).
To read more, download the reportRecommendation: Supporting and promoting local social involvement of craftsmen and smaller companies to a greater extent by the public administration. When planning socially responsible activities, bigger business, while adjusting their socially responsible activities to its size, should not forget about its responsibility for the local community.
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