We provide opportunities for staff across the group to nominate charities for funding from a central budget for regional and developing world projects that support the RE Cares mission of education for disadvantaged young people. Last year, Reed Elsevier Cares Champions allocated approximately £325,000 to more than 50 beneficiaries, adding to the contributions made by Reed Elsevier business units. Read summaries of projects we supported centrally.
In managing community involvement, we apply the same rigour and standards that we do in other parts of our business. We conduct an annual RE Group Community Survey in conjunction with RE Accounting Services and our global network of RE Cares Champions. The methodology is based on the model developed by the London Benchmarking Group (Reed Elsevier is a member and serves on the steering group), and divides our aggregate giving into short term charitable gifts, ongoing community investment, and commercial initiatives of direct business benefit. In 2008, all UK and LexisNexis global data was assured by the Corporate Citizenship Company. Read the assurance statement.
Total cash and in-kind donations (products, services, and time) for 2008 was approximately £6 million, an increase of £500,000 in total giving over 2007. Taking account of the market cost of time, products and services, the value of our in-kind giving was approximately £12 million.
After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, in which two RE employees lost their lives, we established a fund in their names – the Jeffrey P Mladenik and Andrew Curry-Green Memorial Scholarship. In 2008, $15,000 grants were awarded to Jonathan Battat, son of Reed Business Information’s Director of Compensation and Benefits, Denise Battat, studying at Columbia University, and Hugh Cunningham, son of LexisNexis employee Robert Cunningham, studying at Stanford University.