Social Commitment

The Engagement Migros development fund

In 2013 the Engagement Migros development fund set its initial focal areas in culture, sustainable development and the economy. With this fund, as well as with Migros Culture Percentage, Migros is extending its social responsibility to other companies of the Migros Group. The Engagement Migros development fund is financed with ten percent of the dividends of individual Migros Group companies, including Denner, Globus, Migros Bank and Migrol. A total of CHF 8.7 million was made available in 2013 (CHF 4.8 million spent).

The new commercial office commenced operations in 2013. In June 2013 the Engagement Migros development fund launched its design promotion initiative at Art Basel, which benefits the Mode Suisse platform, among others. It presents Swiss fashion creations and helps Swiss designers to establish themselves in the market. The fund promotes the area of product design with its Creative Hub.

It also focuses on risky, innovative pilot projects in the area of sustainable development by providing start-up finance. These include sustainable heating systems in greenhouses, sustainable packaging as well as substitutes for palm oil. In addition, an education and meeting centre for sustainable tuna fishing has been established in the Maldives with the help of the Engagement Migros development fund.

Giving something back to society: Migros Culture Percentage

Migros meets its social responsibility by making an annual contribution of around CHF 115 million to Migros Culture Percentage. It thereby aims to «give something back» to Swiss society in the spirit of its founder Gottlieb Duttweiler. CHF 120 million was put towards this globally unique voluntary commitment in 2013. Since the formation of Migros Culture Percentage, Migros has committed around CHF 4.1 billion to adding value to life.

Gottlieb Duttweiler specified Migros Culture Percentage as an independent business unit in the Migros statutes in 1957 – on an equal footing as the selling of cost-effective goods and services. Social responsibility was thereby firmly anchored in the values of the company, independently of the Group's profits. The Federation of Migros Cooperatives and the ten regional cooperatives commit to making an annual contribution, which is calculated on the basis of their sales and is also paid in the event of a decline in business.

The diverse commitments of Migros Culture Percentage are divided into the categories of culture, society, education and leisure. Its supporting pillars are its national and regional institutions and projects, which reach out to broad groups of the population. These range from the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art to the Grandmother Revolution, from the four Green Meadow Parks to the robot competition for young people, and from the Migros Club School to the individual promotion of gifted young talent. The central aim is to give people access to the current artistic forms of expression and to enable them to participate in the social, economic and cultural change in society.

Migros Aid Fund: helping people to help themselves

A total of 23 projects by recognised development organisations and private initiatives received financial support from the Migros Aid Fund in 2013. In Switzerland, these included the Goldau animal park, which received funding for the construction of a new bearded vulture aviary, as well as the nature protection organisation Pro Natural for its commitment to Alpine farms. Financial support for projects abroad was provided to the Biovision foundation, which provides camels for drought areas, the Helvetas organisation for its project to support women's rights in Mozambique and the Aide aux Enfants foundation, which offers an educational programme in Columbia for children of pre-school age.

The Migros Aid Fund has been supporting social and ecological aid projects in Switzerland and abroad since 1979. CHF 1 million a year is available for such projects, and more than CHF 34 million has been invested to date. The aid fund is aimed at projects that support minorities and involve the regional population. They are professionally organised, have a sustainable approach and follow the principle of helping people to help themselves. The selected projects usually receive between CHF 40'000 and CHF 100'000.

Migros donates

Migros makes a commitment to helping disadvantaged people and people in need with various donation measures. The most important charitable contributions in 2013 included:

• A donation of CHF 1 million for the victims of the widespread devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The amount was transferred to the Glückskette foundation to provide fast and uncomplicated emergency aid.
   
• In a Christmas fund-raising campaign within the framework of Migros' partnership with the Pro Juventute foundation, customers managed to raise CHF 559'515. Migros doubled the amount to more than CHF 1.1 million. It supports projects that help children and young people in need. In particular, this included increasing the capacity of the 147 emergency number, which is dialled by 400 children every day.
   
• Generous food donations to the charity organisations Tischlein deck dich, Schweizer Tafel and Partage, which have joined forces under the umbrella organisation Food Bridge. In addition, the members of the Swiss retail stakeholder group IG DHS, including Migros, will support the organisations with CHF 680'000 annually over the next three years.
   
• Donation of unsold goods from the non-food area (clothes, underwear, shoes, hygiene products, office material, etc.) to charity organisations. In 2013 goods worth around CHF 3.5 million were donated to the aid organisation AVC. Goods worth CHF 270'000 were donated to Caritas, CHF 60'000 to the Pfarrer Sieber foundation, CHF 157'000 to Rumänienhilfe and CHF 46'000 to a children's home in Peru.