(P) A pioneer on the Romanian CSR scene

A pioneer on the Romanian CSR scene The Vodafone Romania Foundation was set up in 1998, since when it has financed over 768 programs for children, seniors, disadvantaged groups, individuals with disabilities and victims of natural disasters. It has also invested over EUR 17 million so far in projects developed with 600 NGO partners, reaching 300,000 beneficiaries.

The Vodafone Romania Foundation was also a pioneer on the local CSR market, becoming the first corporate foundation in Romania. And the trailblazing didn’t stop there, as Vodafone was the first company in Romania to launch a program for salary donations back in December 1998. This allows its employees to donate voluntarily a percentage of their salary every month to fund the foundation’s activities.

“Today 700 individuals donate every month to support the projects of the Vodafone Foundation,” says Florina Tanase, Director Legal & External Affairs, member of the Vodafone Foundation Board.

In addition, in 2006 the foundation launched for the first time in Romania a corporate volunteering program for its employees. It now has over 3,800 volunteers who have put in more than 25,000 hours of volunteering.

“Now each employee can spend two days a year volunteering on the foundation’s projects. We have about 1,000 volunteers a year in our company. There are also other employees that participate as volunteers in their spare time. If you send an internal e-mail saying that you need 10 volunteers you get 50, while if you need 300 you get 400,” says Tanase.

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Vodafone Foundation equips 21 neonatology and neonatal intensive care units

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Two major projects: Mobile for Good and Voluntar de profesie

Mobile for Good, the Vodafone Foundation’s largest project in Romania, was launched in 2012. It uses mobile technology to improve the lives of physically disabled and/or socially disadvantaged individuals. With an initial investment of EUR 475,000 from the Vodafone Foundation and benefiting from access to the Vodafone service network, Mobile for Good started with special programs for diabetics, seniors in need of home care and learning-disabled athletes. The number of beneficiaries increased last year when the program was extended to include three projects financed by the Vodafone Romania Foundation: the 4G telemedicine solution in the new intensive care unit for newborns at the Marie Curie hospital, a pediatric call centre in Cluj county and the extension of the telemedicine solution to another 80 SMURD ambulances.

Since 2012, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested over EUR 1.1 million in six projects with more than 5,800 beneficiaries. The projects were developed in partnership with React Association, Inima Copiilor Asociation, Caritas Association, the Foundation for SMURD, Special Olympics Foundation and Parinti din Romania Foundation. In Romania, “Voluntar de profesie” was implemented for the first time in 2010, and the first three editions included 16,000 hours of volunteering, with 47 non-profit projects and 10,000 beneficiaries. Last year, the Vodafone Foundation launched the fourth edition, through which 17 individuals had the chance to work from October 2013 to April 2014 for beneficiaries of an NGO in one of the following fields: health, education, preventing family and school abandonment, programs for youngsters with disabilities and seniors.

“We intend to extend the duration of the Voluntar de profesie program this year because it will provide greater support for organizations,” adds Tanase.

2013: a successful year for the Vodafone Romania Foundation

The foundation had a budget of EUR 2.5 million last year and, with the support of its partners, helped 5,300 individuals through 68 projects:

 It worked in partnership with Inima Copiilor Association to launch a new intensive care unit for newborns at the Marie Curie hospital. The financing provide by the foundation was EUR 1.4 million, the biggest individual financing that the Foundation had for one project.

 The foundation built four houses for disadvantaged people in Cristian village, Brasov County, in partnership with Diaconia Ajutor International Association.

 “With the Motivation Foundation we have many projects as it is one of our traditional partners. One project involved the distribution of wheelchairs all over the country. They select beneficiaries with low incomes who need such chairs.

 Together with Chance for Life Association “we developed the Bursa Vodafonr project in Bucharest and Sulina. Through this project, gifted, but poor children with chaotic backgrounds or from poor families are helped by teachers in a day center to fulfill their educational potential,”

Last year the Vodafone Foundation organized two open calls for proposals : one for its partners and the other for organizations that had not previously benefited from the foundation’s support.

“Through this call for proposals we hope to reach as many smaller organizations as possible nationwide. Some 384 applications were received in one month, out of which 222 were eligible. At the end ten projects were selected for the next year, worth EUR 310,000,” says Tanase.

This year the Vodafone Romania Foundation will organize at least one new “call for proposals” financing program.

Vodafone Romania – a community involvement in saving lives

Vodafone has supported SMURD and the Foundation for SMURD since 2004. This partnership has taken different forms, from fitting ambulances with equipment for data and video transmissions to the acquisition of intervention vehicles and the renovation of the National Center for Training in Medical Emergency Assistance in Targu Mures.

Furthermore, the company is a traditional partner of Salvamont with which it launched a mobile application intended to help rescue teams locate stricken individuals in mountain areas.

But the CSR actions of Vodafone Romania don’t stop here. The company runs annual blood donation drives, organizes first aid training with React Association and supports the donation platform through SMS.

Vodafone Romania Foundation in facts….

 The first corporate foundation in Romania;

 First system of salary donations in Romania;

 First corporate volunteering program for employees;

 Fields of involvement: health, education, preventing family and school abandonment, social services, sport for individuals with special needs, volunteering emergency help during natural disasters;

 Beneficiaries: children and young people, seniors, disabled individuals, socially, economically and physically disadvantaged people.

….and figures

 EUR 17 million invested over 16 years of activity;

 Over 3,800 corporate volunteers for Vodafone Romania Foundation programs and over 25,000 volunteering hours;

 EUR 3.5 million invested in health programs;

 768 programs supported by the Vodafone Romania Foundation;

 600 partner NGOs;

 EUR 1,350,000 – the largest investment in a single project;

 About 300,000 beneficiaries.

Florina Tanase, Director Legal & External Affairs, member of

the Vodafone Foundation Board

“We truly believe in our Foundation’s mission: to improve people’s lives by supporting the NGO’s, communities and individuals who strive for the better”