Skills and financial sponsorship: a winning combination

A company's generosity is not limited to financial donations. It can also involve its know-how in the field: this is known as skills sponsorship. This is a powerful lever for engaging employees in a CSR approach.

What is skills sponsorship?

In addition to its quest for profitability, a company can make a commitment to the general interest. With skills sponsorship, it can place its know-how and resources at the service of an association. It's a disinterested action in keeping with a company's corporate social responsibility, eager to have a concrete impact on a territory and/or in favor of a cause close to its heart. This approach reflects the values advocated or defended by the company.

In practical terms, skills sponsorship involves supporting a public-interest organization in a highly operational way. One or more of the company's employees will carry out a mission, in the form of a service or a loan of manpower, over a set period of time. This civic commitment is carried out on a voluntary basis and during working hours, without loss of pay. Skills sponsorship entitles the company to a tax deduction corresponding to 60% of the salary of the employees made available (including charges), up to a limit of 0.5% of annual sales excluding tax.

In-kind sponsorship differs from traditional financial sponsorship, in which a company makes a donation to an association. According to the 2022 barometer of corporate philanthropy in France, carried out by Ifop for Admical, nine out of ten corporate sponsors make financial donations, while only 15% make skills-based donations. In practice, therefore, financial donations are still in the majority. Moreover, six out of ten corporate sponsors surveyed were unaware of the ceiling on tax exemption for the salaries of employees made available as part of skills sponsorship, demonstrating the lack of visibility of the scheme.

In addition to the nature of the aid provided, the major difference between skills-based sponsorship and financial sponsorship is the commitment of employees. Day One, a startup committed to skills sponsorship, carried out a study with the IÉSEG School of Management showing that nine out of ten employees would like to get involved in concrete solidarity actions. Three quarters want to serve a cause and feel useful, and almost half want to give meaning to their daily lives.

For a company in good financial health, financial donations remain the easiest way to support a public-interest organization. The most widespread among SMEs is for sports associations, while among ETIs it is mainly for heritage preservation and culture, and among large groups for education.

Skills-based philanthropy will require more engineering to design a scheme. As indicated in the practical guide to skills sponsorship published by the State Secretariat for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy in 2021, the company must first reflect on its challenges and its raison d'être, then define a strategy to identify an association and set up a coordination process around clear rules and objectives, before following up the approach once it has begun.

While financial donations are generally made at the initiative of the head of the company, skills sponsorship involves employees and offers them the opportunity to make a social impact through their know-how. It's also a way for the company to enhance its CSR profile, and a concrete illustration of its core skills and values, around which it can communicate to boost its profile.

The Sorewards gift card also bridges the gap between corporate philanthropy and employee commitment, allowing employees to make a donation to the association of their choice, while the company can also donate any unused funds.

Like Sorewards, the startup startup OuiLive helps companies to promote their CSR approach and unite their employees.. The OuiLive solution is perfectly compatible with skills sponsorship. Its platform makes it possible to create "connected challenges with a positive impact", according to co-founder Olivier Houyvet. These are digital or live events in which a company's employees can challenge each other for the benefit of an association. The initiative enables employees to "raise awareness of a cause and mobilize to generate a concrete impact". The impact is beneficial both for team cohesion, by strengthening the human bond, and for the association supported, which can benefit from a concrete contribution in the form of skills sponsorship.