Community involvement
Novo Nordisk is committed to contribute to society, both globally and in the communities in which the company has operations. Novo Nordisk’s economic stakeholder model is one way to assess the financial impacts of relationships with key economic stakeholders.
While no global, aggregate information is available, the company is making local investments that redistribute operating revenues to local communities. For instance, Novo Nordisk Pharma SA in Spain allocates a fixed percentage sum of its insulin sales to an independently managed diabetes fund.
World Diabetes Foundation
In financial terms, Novo Nordisk’s biggest, single commitment is its annual donations to the World Diabetes Foundation.
This Foundation was launched at the Annual General Meeting of Novo Nordisk A/S in 2002, when the shareholders agreed on a donation obligating the company over a 10-year period to make annual donations to the World Diabetes Foundation of 0.25% of the net insulin sales of the preceding financial year. It is estimated that the total donations will be around 70 million EUR; however, annual donations may not exceed DKK 65 million or 15% of taxable income. In 2004 the donation amounted to 45 million DKK.
Sponsorships and other charity donations
In addition, Novo Nordisk sponsors activities with a social, socio-economic or environmental purpose and which are consistent with the company’s objectives. For instance, sponsorships support initiatives for healthier lifestyles among young people, sports and academic activities such as case competitions.
Education and health infrastructure
The National Diabetes programme is another corporate activity aimed at addressing the diabetes pandemic. Corporate investments in financial terms are modest when compared with the impact and the local benefits.
Underserved communities
The National Diabetes programme and the The DAWN programme incorporate activities directed at supporting better care for people with diabetes in underserved communities, such as ethnic minority groups.
Taking action
The volunteer programme, TakeAction! encourages Novo Nordisk employees to get engaged in activities that meet social and/or environmental objectives and support business objectives. Activities should therefore fall under one or more of the following categories:
- Diabetes (prevention, awareness raising etc)
- Haemostasis management
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Growth hormone therapy
- Local community involvement
While no consolidated data exist for the number of people actively involved in TakeAction!, evidence from five surveyed pilot markets indicate a very high support. In 2004, as a result of the global TakeAction! activity – healthy recipes for a cookbook – together with local activities more than 1 million DKK was raised for worthy causes.
Policies and guidelines serve to ensure that TakeAction! initiatives are conducted in compliance with the standards and practices Novo Nordisk adheres to.
