67% companies chose NGOs for CSR implementation

67% companies chose NGOs for CSR implementation

BS Reporter / Chennai January 02, 2010, 0:27 IST

Sixty seven per cent of domestic companies have chosen non-government organisations (NGOs) as partners to undertake their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, while 58 per cent prefer government departments for the spread of CSR obligations, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) says. The chamber, in its assessment, ‘CSR: Quantitative Analysis’, said 21 domestic companies were working with multilateral or bilateral organisations for CSR activities. The study added 37 per cent of the firms had a well-structured foundation for implementing their CSR, while 58 per cent domestic companies had formed a separate department to implement CSR. The importance of building strong public-private partnership as well as working closely with NGOs as implementation partners is being realised by companies, Assocham President Swati Piramal said. The assessment highlights that 21 per cent of companies have come up with a separate CSR report, while only 8 per cent have reported their CSR activities in its annual report. Among international firms, the umber reporting for CSR in its annual reports rate are much higher. In 1977, the figure was 50 per cent, which rose 90 per cent in 2000.

“It was also found that some companies chose to narrow their focus on a few thematic areas, other companies took a broader view and undertook a large scope of areas to focus on. Of the 24 cases analysed, it was found that there were as many as 16 companies focusing on 3-5 thematic areas, whereas four companies catered to 1-2 thematic areas of work and remaining four stuck to six or more thematic areas.”