Philanthropy

A tradition of commitment

For over a century, Roche has directed financial and human resources to tackling social causes, stimulating engagement in science and promoting cultural activities, all with a common aim: to make a lasting impact.

Roche affiliates are active corporate citizens in their communities, with full responsibility for determining local needs and activities, within company policy and guidelines. We encourage and, when possible, assist our employees to be actively involved in their communities.

Focusing on areas of need

We support primarily programmes that will benefit from an active, long-term commitment on our part. Often working in collaboration with others, we seek to be a contributor of skills and competencies and a project funder, directing our energies in four areas:

• Humanitarian and social projects by partnering with charitable organisations on initiatives which lead to sustainable benefits
• Science and education programmes for learners, teachers and future scientists
• Arts and culture with an emphasis on vibrant contemporary and innovative activities
• Community and environment projects that are creative, sustainable and address local needs

Our preference at the corporate level is to collaborate with others on a limited number of meaningful long-term philanthropic projects that generate lasting outcomes. Experience shows that projects developed jointly with established groups, such as non-governmental, non-profit or multilateral organisations, or local agencies, are more likely to achieve sustainable benefits by making better use of available resources and developing the most appropriate programmes.  

Selecting and managing programmes locally

Roche operates globally but delegate’s responsibility for most philanthropic activities to its local affiliates operating in over 150 countries. By selecting and managing philanthropic projects locally, we can focus on identified needs to maximise our community involvement and programme effectiveness.

At the corporate level, Roche’s Corporate Donations and Philanthropy (CDP) group supports philanthropic activities that encompass multiple countries, ensuring alignment with company policy, providing communication strategies and other operational support. For example, CDP is responsible for international projects such as the Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare train, the Roche Children’s Walk, EDUCARE and for supporting rebuilding activities after major natural disasters.

Monitoring and measuring impact

As with all sustainability activities, we measure the impact of the projects we support in terms of outcomes, not their return on investment or publicity value.

We assess the effectiveness of our philanthropy strategy using the key performance indicators outlined in our Business Case for Sustainability. This model includes reporting systems which enable us to determine the real impact of programmes, such as the number of patients treated, infrastructure improvements and people receiving education or training.

Please see Criteria and Requests to learn more about our funding guidelines and how you can make a request.