Banking on donations to bolster CSR

If last year's Sichuan earthquake spurred new growth in China's philanthropic sector, the current global financial downturn could encourage new levels of corporate social responsibility.

China Merchants Bank (CMB), the country's sixth-largest lender by assets, recently published its report on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities during the year following the May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake.

"Last year was a special period for domestic companies," said Lu Hanlong, a professor at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

"In addition to supporting reconstruction projects in earthquake-stricken areas, they also faced the need to provide new help in the face of this year's financial crisis," Lu said.

New ways to donate

According to CMB's report, the bank introduced a donation platform one day after last year's earthquake to allow clients a new way to make donations to disaster areas.

From May 13, 2008, to Sept 30, 2008, 192,923 CMB credit card customers donated 18,285,418 yuan and HK$1,000 through the bank's donation platform.

The bank itself donated 14.7 million yuan to quake-stricken areas, and its employees donated another 180 million yuan.

"CMB used a smart, effective method to collect donations for disaster relief," said Chi Yaoping, a senior officer at the China Youth Development Federation (CYDF).

"By mobilizing the large number of its credit card clients, the bank quickly strengthened its forces. It helped extend the bank's contributions to a larger range of communities," Chi said.

The bank also worked closely with CYDF to track contributions to education and sanitation projects, and also the funds that were sent for nutrition, mental health and other services for quake victims.

The bank spent 3 million yuan to build seven earthquake-resistant schools in cities of Mianzhu, Mianyang and Guangyuan in Sichuan province, enabling more than 6,000 students and teachers to resume classes.

The bank's donations also contributed to mental health services and other support for earthquake victims.

According to the bank's report, 3 million yuan was spent to provide 50 movie projectorss and 50 libraries to the region's schools.

This year, the bank supported the CYDF Happy Music Classroom project, which builds music classrooms in Sichuan province schools.

Every cent of the donations comes from our clients, employees and shareholders," said a senior employee at one of the bank's Beijing branches.

"To ensure our commitment to corporate social responsibility is sustainable, we must show every detail of how those donations were spent," the senior employee said.

Partnerships

The bank has become partners with other corporations to bolster its social responsibility efforts.

In July 2008, the bank became partners with China Development Bank and CITIC Trust to develop a combined initiative to collect more donations for reconstruction work in quake areas.

In August 2008, the three partners donated 9.6 million yuan to the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation for school reconstruction.

CMB's efforts expand beyond earthquake response initiatives.

Last November, CMB joined the Jet Li One Foundation to introduce a "Love Credit Card" to support educational development in China's rural areas.

CMB also sent teams to poverty-stricken areas of Yunnan province to support financial industry development efforts.

Chi of CYDF said more attention is being paid to corporate social responsibility, and that companies are exploring new ways to expand their role in philanthropy.

Lu of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences said that despite the economic downturn, he believes companies will strive for a larger role as socially responsible corporate citizens.

A reflection of that larger role was contained in the conclusion of the CMB report.

"In coming years, we will continue to improve our financial services and promote our contributions to society," the report said.

(China Daily 07/13/2009 page8)