Hidden among somber communist-era apartment blocks in Prague's Modřany district, the Krok youth club is completely dark. Children and local teenagers, dart quickly between rooms.

They're playing hide-and-seek.

"I come here everyday after I do my homework," says Erik, who is 14 years old but introduces himself as nearly 15. "There are people here. It's fun."

Krok is one of two youth clubs run by the nonprofit Proxima Sociale. The organization created Krok to give youths age 13 to 18 a safe place to socialize.

There's no formal admissions procedure for joining Krok, which means "step." Members only have to adhere to the club's no-drug, no-alcohol and no-fighting policy.

"Here, youths have an alternative to spending their free time drinking and smoking in the streets," says Tomáš Příhoda, a social worker at Krok.

"They come and play pingpong or hide and seek, just what normal children would do."

Krok is supported by the Vodafone Czech Republic Foundation. Oskar Vodafone, which is set to be rebranded Feb. 1 as Vodafone Czech Republic, launched the foundation in December. Through the foundation the company will allocate a total of 10 million Kč ($421,940) to support youth clubs such as Krok.

The initiative is part of Vodafone ČR's corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. The strategy is designed to shape the company's image as a corporation that is actively involved in the communities where it does business.

Like many other multinational companies, Vodafone, the British telcommunications company that bought Oskar Mobil last year, is bringing CSR to this country. The concept of companies giving back to the community, both as philanthropy and business strategy, is still underdeveloped here when compared to Western countries, according to experts.

"In Western countries, the idea of corporate social responsibility is much more common," says Filip Hrubý, public relations manager at Vodafone ČR. "Companies realize it is their social responsibility to invest into the societies that enable them to do business."

Corporate responsibility

The idea of companies behaving as good "corporate citizens" that take an active role in solving social problems is slowly catching on in Central and East European countries, including the Czech Republic.

That's because businesses are starting to realize that CSR is an important part of brand awareness. Indeed, a company's perceived connection with an activity that's seen to benefit the public good is one of the key factors behind a consumer's decision to buy from one company rather than another, says Milan Deutsch, client service director at public relations firm Mmd.

"Competition is growing, and it's difficult to differentiate between products and services," he says. "Surveys show that two-thirds of consumers choose products connected with some charitable activity when faced with a choice of goods with a similar price and quality."

In the Czech Republic, however, companies for a long time mistakenly believed CSR was only about making charitable donations. But, as Deutsch points out, it is about looking for tangible ways to actively solve social problems, starting at their roots. It also includes volunteerism and donation of company products and services, both of which can provide much more than a cash donation.

Not only does CSR benefit the community, it's also a tool for companies to shape their images and public relations policies, a tool all corporations should use, Deutsch says. Through effective CSR, corporations can strengthen customer loyalty, but businesses here have been reluctant to develop strategies because they don't receive recognition, a result of the fact that the media look upon corporate responsibility programs with skepticism.

Supporting education

Global computer-hardware manufacturer Intel is another example of a multinational company with a successful CSR strategy. About 90 percent of Intel's CSR program is devoted to education, says Pavel Svoboda, public relations manager for Intel Central and Eastern Europe.

Worldwide, Intel allocates around $100 million (2.7 billion Kč/82 million euros) a year in support of education. The Czech program — Intel Teach to the Future — focuses on training teachers to use information technologies to improve the learning process. The program, which started last fall, aims to train 30,000 teachers by 2008.

Svoboda says, however, that implementing Intel's CSR program has been more difficult here than in other countries.

"There is still pretty low interest on the part of government authorities, many of whom do not consider computer literacy a high priority compared to some of their counterparts in Western Europe," he says.

It makes a difference

Czech companies have started to better understand the role of CSR in the past couple of years, Deutsch says. And the organizations that benefit from their programs are in no way lacking appreciation.

"Having a sponsor means that someone appreciates our work," says Iva Hodková, director of the Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany. Thanks to donations from companies such as Hewlett-Packard and tea producer Jemča, the hospital has an outdoor swimming pool, a climbing wall, a small miniature golf course, a multipurpose gym, a fully equipped rehabilitation center and a large farm.

Health insurance companies would not have paid for these facilities. And getting public support for youth clubs such as Krok, either in the form of solidarity or financing, is difficult, says Martina Zimmermannová, the director of Proxima Sociale.

As a result, Proxima Sociale is hoping to continue cooperating with the private sector.