Why do companies donate especially generously in the pre-Christmas season and how does Germany rank in an international comparison? Kevin Hanschke from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked Prof. Dr. Martin Fassnacht to comment on this topic. According to his assessment, donations are a "soft power instrument" for marketing and public relations. "Products, brands and corporate agendas can also be promoted via the presentation of donation activities," says Prof. Fassnacht. Nevertheless, Germany is not a donation nation. "For a long time, we have not had the same donation culture as in the U.S. or Great Britain because of the well-functioning welfare state. The total amount of all donations in Germany is 0.24 percent of the gross domestic product; for the United States, this figure is around 2.24 percent, almost ten times higher. At Christmas, donations were also ten times higher there.
Read the entire article in the FAZ of Dec. 22, 2021, p. 22 (print edition, German only).