{"id":223940,"date":"2022-06-28T05:58:42","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T10:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/?p=223940"},"modified":"2022-07-27T12:26:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T16:26:37","slug":"corporate-response-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalgiving.org\/learn\/corporate-response-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"What The Corporate Response To Russia’s War In Ukraine Teaches Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia\u2019s latest invasion of Ukraine was the culmination of years of repeated aggression on its neighbor, and yet Russia\u2019s reckless actions took most of the world by surprise. In the days following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, GlobalGiving\u2019s donor community poured their support into Ukraine crisis relief<\/a> efforts. In just four days, more than $1.5 million had been donated on our platform. However, it wasn\u2019t until two weeks later that momentum built with businesses across the world taking action. Their monetary and in-kind donations set off an unprecedented, and in many ways astounding, response from the private sector.<\/p>\n

Why astounding? While companies have increased their aid to disaster and humanitarian causes in recent decades, with donation rates among the 500 largest US companies jumping from 20% in 1990 to 95% in 2014<\/a>, the corporate response to the Ukraine crisis defied expectations given its highly politicized nature.<\/p>\n

With more than $1 billion in monetary donations<\/a> raised globally to date, nobody expected the volume or pace at which corporations around the world would send funds to support Ukrainians affected by the war. A few bold companies incited a peer-pressured cascade of million-dollar donations from across the private sector.<\/p>\n

And yet, with a little distance, you can see how the corporate response to the Ukraine crisis was also influenced by increasingly popular business trends: <\/p>\n

    \nStakeholder pressure:<\/big><\/strong> Most corporate donors cited employee interest as the reason for their generous contributions, with many companies creating employee matching campaigns<\/big><\/a>. <\/p>\n

    Disaster and humanitarian response:<\/strong> In the past decade, companies have dramatically increased their budgets for disaster recovery and humanitarian aid and were poised to give generously early in the calendar year when Russia\u2019s invasion began.<\/p>\n

    Operational resilience:<\/strong> Companies are shoring up global operations and ensuring a resilient supply chain<\/a> given the impact geopolitics, natural disasters, and now pandemics can have on business operations.\n<\/ol>\n

    Ultimately, a public commitment, and in some cases divestment from business operations<\/a> in Russia, was an altruistic move and a sound business decision.<\/p>\n

    How the corporate response to Ukraine could (and should!) shape CSR<\/h3>\n

    So what can we take away from all this, and what does it suggest about the private sector\u2019s response to future crises?<\/p>\n

    Many are skeptical about whether the response to the Ukraine crisis signals that the tide is turning for company responses to humanitarian crises. Businesses have not given similar levels of support to humanitarian crises in other regions. Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine struck close to home for Western companies, and the resulting disparities have triggered conversations about inequity in philanthropy<\/a> and the impact of media attention.<\/p>\n

    Whether it\u2019s a turning point or not, I see three key learnings for the business community:<\/p>\n

      \n