Context Comments

A combination of a charity and a social enterprise – the organisational and business model of SOS Children’s Villages Finland

SOS Children’s Villages in Finland consists of a foundation and a registered association. The foundation is responsible for the actual provision of services in Finland and selected partner countries. The registered association represents civil society and supports the foundation in its work.

SOS Children’s Villages has been working in Finland since 1962 and is a member of SOS Children’s Villages International, which is active in more than 130 countries.

Headquartered in Helsinki, the foundation has more than 200 employees. The majority of employees work locally supporting children, youth and their families.

The business activities consist mainly of selling of services to public actors, mainly local municipalities.

Main client and target groups

Main clients

Local municipalieties

Target groups

Families in need of support Children and youth in need of foster care Youth in need of extended care Underaged refugees entering the country by themselves Funding of activities

Current funding sources

grants sales of services other (2017)

- Sales of services 68% - Fundraising 19% - Grants 2% - Investments 9% - Other sources of revenue 2% Growth as strategic goal needs funding

In order to grow their business and thus social impact, SOS Children’s Villages are dependent on new funding. The social enterprise operates in a field where cutting expenses is very difficult: the impact of their work is tied to the professional and careful work of the employees. In Finland human resources are expensive and form the biggest item of expense for nearly all companies and public actors working in the field of health and social services.

Other large item of expense are facilities (SOS villages, family centres etc.) and in order to grow their business activities, SOS Children’s Villages would also need to invest in new facilities.

Also, the further development of core services requires additional funding.

SIBs could be an increasing, important new channel of funding also to SOS Children’s Villages. More about SIBs in pages 30-31.

A closer look – Fundraising

The strategic goal is to cover 1/3 of investments through fundraising. The goal is extremely challenging. Compared with, for example, the United States or the United Kingdom, Finland does not have a strong culture of private citizens or companies donating large sums to philanthropy. Finns tend to think that in the welfare state that the country is, it is the state’s responsibility to take care of people in vulnerable situations. Nevertheless, private citizens and companies do make some donations. Below is an example of a successful communications and fundraising partnership.

Case: SOS Children’s Villages Finland and Danske Bank – a partnership that benefits both

In 2019 SOS Children’s Villages Finland formed a partnership with the local branch of Danske Bank, the third largest bank in Finland. The same year Danske Bank had started a campaign headlined “Economic peace of mind belongs to everyone”. The core message of the campaign was to encourage all Finns to improve their skills in running their personal economy, know more about ways to save and invest, and in general, talk more openly about money at home, especially with children.

For the bank, the campaign was a part of their corporate responsibility work. The bank’s strategy stated that they should be closer and more engaged with the society they operate in and become recognised as a responsible actor. The economic motivation was to introduce their services to new customers. They were looking for a civil society partner to engage with the campaign and came across SOS Children’s Villages. SOS Children’s Villages seemed a good partner because it is a widely appreciated actor who is very familiar with the challenges underprivileged families and children face. Research shows that underprivileged, low-income families have the least skills to organise, manage and plan their economic situation.

The partnership includes campaigns where the bank and SOS Children’s Villages have jointly spoken about poverty, families’ economic planning and “peace of mind”. The first campaign was launched around Mother’s Day in May 2019. The campaign spoke about the inequalities between newborn children in Finland: 50

‘Our cooperation with Danske Bank enabled us to help more children and youth. With this donation we were able to hire two new family partners for 1.5 years. The family partner model has a proven positive impact and has a potential to help a large group of children and youth. The partner supports, listens and helps with whatever the child or young person feels the most need’

Mikaela Westergård, CEO, SOS Children’s Villages9

‘We wanted to avoid whitewashing and over-optimistic, polished talk about saving the world. We know that one donation or campaign does not end child poverty. But we wanted to do our part in rising discussion over inequalities in economic competences and money talk. We know that getting rich is not possible for everyone, we know that not everyone can invest or save. Our message was that everyone can still learn to manage their own economic situation better and take small steps to improve it. But we need to talk about these issues as a society and bring money talk and skills to all families. That’s where we thought we and SOS Children’s Villages could together do something’

Leena Vainiomäki, Country Manager, Danske Bank Finland8

 Interviewed 14.8.2020. 9 SOS Children’s Villages media statement, January 2020 10 Danske Bank’s media statement, May 2019 11 Danske Bank’s media statement, May 2019

‘I was very happy that we could support SOS “Even though Finland is a rich country with relatively Children’s Villages work and take our customers and small income gaps, every seventh child is born to a personnel aboard. As a manager I could really see family in a risk of falling to poverty. Everyone does not that our Economic peace of mind project and as a start from the same start line – we want to amplify the part of that helping children with SOS Children’s public discussion about family poverty and differences Villages became really important to our personnel. in economic starting points.”10 They felt good that via their work efforts something good could be done. It gave us all a motivation boost. As a campaign act the bank started investment accounts for 10 newborns from underprivileged Personally I was really humbled and moved when I families located and chosen by SOS Children’s heard what and how much SOS Children’s Villages Villages. Together with the accounts the bank would be able to do with the money we donated. The promised to make donations to the accounts until the Family partner model is doing grass-roots work that children turn 18. The campaign message was that will actually help families in challenging situations. It starting to save and invest with small sums when the is not every day you get to feel that you did children are very young, parents and other close something so useful and good. For us in Danske adults can influence the circumstances in which the Bank this partnership is a way to show that we don’t children enter into adulthood.11 just talk, we also act. That’s what corporate responsibility is to me’ Fall 2019 Danske Bank launched a new identification application intended for their customers. Simultaneously with the launch they promised to Leena Vainiomäki, Country Manager, Danske Bank Finland12 donate €1 from each download of the application to SOS Children’s Villages. In January 2020 then Country manager Leena Vainiomäki presented a cheque for €215,050 to SOS Children’s Villages CEO Mikaela Westergård. Together they said that the donation would be used in full to fund the Family partner service.

12 Interviewed 14.8.2020

From left: SOS Children’s Villages CEO Mikaela Westergård and Communications and fundraising director Leena Poutanen receive a cheque of €215,050 from Danske Bank’s Country Manager Leena Vainiomäki.