Arbitrary social engagement? Not at help alliance

Why and how the Lufthansa Group engages socially together with help alliance and does it better than most DAX-listed corporations

“Donating without rhyme or reason”: An article in the newspaper Die Welt criticises essential aspects of the social engagement of DAX-listed corporations: Supporting charitable projects is important and is becoming ever more relevant – however, many corporations are too arbitrary, without strategy, and too unspecific when allocating funds. Donations are spent here and there, with no evident or even closer thematic focus. One thing they lack above all: Transparency. Many corporations do not even know precisely where donation funds have been allocated, and what they are donating to in the first place. In most cases, they lack the necessary checks and efficiency and effectiveness evaluations to regulate the donations.

This is not the case at help alliance. Within the framework of a long-term strategy, for several years now the Lufthansa Group has supported help alliance, which was an association until January 1 and has been a registered non-profit limited company since then, and forms the central column of its social engagement. Currently, around 30 projects around the globe are nearly all staffed by Lufthansa employee volunteers and are financed exclusively through donations. Along with the commitment of employees, central to help alliance’s approach is working with partners on site. The great advantage to this is that they have years of experience in development cooperation and know the respective local circumstances.

“Helpers from aid organisations often know too little about social structures, cultures, norms, mentalities and traditions in their operational areas. Due to the concept of working with partners on site this is not true in the case of help alliance.” says Volker Seitz, Diplomat for the Federal Foreign Office and former Head of the German Embassy in Cameroon, in an article in the June edition of One magazine (title story, p. 10ff).

Since Lufthansa Group employees are regularly on site, they can bear witness to donation funds being used most efficiently and in a targeted way. Due to reporting obligations and regular visits by the project manager, checks regarding the correct use of charitable contributions are guaranteed. Thus help alliance and the Lufthansa Group ensure trust and transparency for all involved and the interested public, and can be sure that their aid is going where it’s needed. Projects must profit from sustainable, usually long-term help to provide self-help and added value for the people concerned.

The focus of help alliance’s activities lies especially in providing young people world-wide with access to a good education and to thereby empower them to lead a self-determined life.