"Generation M" The largest Russian charity project using digital tools to provide equal access to creative education for children across the country, organized in partnership between businesses, regional authorities and NGOs

By PJSC Mobile TeleSystems (MTS Group)

Due to the current economic situation, Russian families have limited opportunities to nurture their children's talents. In order to change it, MTS has created an online platform where children from all over the country can develop their creativity under the guidance of famous Russian cultural figures. The most talented children get unique opportunities: admission to creative universities, the chance to exhibit their work in the Tretyakov gallery, etc. By developing their own talents, participants of the project save the lives of their peers. MTS counts every activity on the online platform of "Generation M", transfers them into money and donates it to fund urgent surgeries of Russian children

Implementation of the Project/Activity

A system of partnerships with clear roles has been created to implement the project: • MTS (project initiator) - application of digital expertise for the introduction of new educational tools, main resource support, general project coordination. • Creative partners, celebrities – creating of educational content, working with children, engaging the audience through communication on their own sites. • NGOs – providing treatment for children, interacting with parents. • Regional authorities – resource support for the project in the Russian regions, including the organization of offline events (communication with educational institutions, provision of free-of-charge sites for the events, involvement of volunteer organizations). • Business partners – resource support for events in their respective territories, raising additional funds, raising additional funds, getting employees and partners involved in the project. • Volunteers – help in organizing online and offline events, spreading the culture of charity. The main platform for implementing the project is the online platform pokolenie.mts.ru, as well as social media networks popular among Russian teenagers (Instragram, TikTok, VK). Using these platforms, children study, interact with mentors and participate in creative competitions. To support/promote the online activities/platform, and with the aim to further encourage creativity in Russia’s territories, MTS organizes large-scale educational events in which celebrities participate. This gives the locals the opportunity to meet famous Russian cultural figures in person. The event includes educational activities for children, and preserves and promotes local cultural heritage.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

GOALS 4, 10, 11:

• Over 30 million children from all Russian regions participated in the project's online educational courses • Over 2000 offline educational events held in the Russian regions and reached over 3 million people • 638 talented children from 68 regions (including residents of remote territories and rural areas) selected by the project masters for further development, received creative opportunities and continued to develop under the guidance of the masters

GOAL 17:

• Children are mentored by 250 professionals who participate in the project for free: celebrities, representatives of major cultural institutions and well-known figures in the field of art • The project's volunteer team has exceeded 5,000 people GOAL 3: • A large movement of young philanthropists has been formed. In the frame of the MTS targeted support program, funds were allocated for the treatment of over 250 seriously ill children

Enabling factors and constraints

The use of digital tools, non-standard charity mechanics, as well as the participation of celebrities allows for the continuous increase in interest and involvement of the audience, and the expansion of its geography. For effective project management, MTS has a special team that includes employees of the head office, regional specialists throughout Russia, as well as volunteer groups. The project involves top managers of the company. The company consistently allocates a budget for project implementation. Collaboration with the government, businesses, and NGOs allows MTS to optimize costs by using partner resources.

Sustainability and replicability

Six years after its launch, the project has become the base for an ecosystem of social and environmental services of the company. With the help of partnerships, established within the framework of “Generation M”, and existing online and offline infrastructures, MTS has implemented a set of projects in the field of sustainable development aimed at promoting eco-tourism and eco-education, preserving cultural and natural heritage, education, etc. For example, in 2020 MTS launched an ecological stream of “Generation M” to promote a responsible attitude towards nature using creative tools. Together with well-known cartoon characters, participants of “Generation M" learn how to sort garbage, upcycle, and create short films about their experiences. The Moscow Zoo educates children about rare animal species and ways to protect them, having the youngest children create miniature habitats depending on the needs of the animal.

Webpage: pokolenie.mts.ru

According to official statistics, nine of ten young people aged 16 to 25 have troubles choosing their further professional path. More than half of senior students hesitate in their choice. Only 40% of graduates manage to get employed according to the specialisation they brought in a university. “Lift to the future” announces its main aim to help high school students determine their future professional track, choose a profiled university or start a career according to professional goals. National Agency for Development of Qualifications and all-Russian research centre conclude that at the beginning of 2020, the main problem of employers was a lack of post-graduated candidates, including the most-needed engineers and digital specialists who can meet the qualification criteria. At the same time, employers demand soft-skilled candidates who are team-players, have MS Office knowledge and presentation skills. The project allows for improving the necessary skills and reduces the employers’ time and resources for adaptation and training of newcomers.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

We set the goal to create a platform that allows graduates and young professionals to get an idea of the modern labour market and qualification requirements and start their careers in our companies. Another target is to provide the corporation's assets with the opportunity to carry out high-quality selection through the use of a "digital profile" of a participant of the "Lift to the Future" program. The decision to create a digital platform was the response to expanding the «Lift to the Future» project; we wanted to provide access to high-quality training materials and career guidance to everyone. The idea to go online was born in June 2020. The concept and architecture of the project were developed by the beginning of September 2020. On November 18, 2020, we launched the platform. In seeking a solution, we first looked inside the corporation and found many original products for organising training used inside the corporation perimeter. We actively studied external solutions, as well. Realising that we will not find the end-product the way we saw it, we viewed every key in the context of adapting it to our tasks. While developing the concept of the online platform, we collected information about the problems of all stakeholders. Then, on this basis, the product functionality’s essential requirements were drawn up: forming a digital user profile, career guidance functionality, selecting candidates for internships, integration with market solutions used for recruiting management, and much more. The project was implemented by Sistema JSFC own team: MTS PJSC, Segezha Group, Medsi Group JSC, Binnopharm JSC, Element Group, Steppe Agroholding, Cosmos Hotel Group and other large companies operating in the regions of Russia. A large number of our employees also took part in the project as volunteers. The Charitable Foundation Sistema hired exterior contractors to design training or career guidance content (interactive videos, games, and much more). To evaluate the effectiveness, we use analytical services tracking users’ behaviour and assessing their interests are connected to the platform.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

1. Entered the top three educational projects according to the all-Russian business newspaper "Vedomosti" and secured a stable image of the system for "engineers of the future" training;
2. Provided 40 organisations of supplementary education for school children in the scientific and technical field with targeted grants for the implementation of educational programs;
3. Conducted project training for 2,000+ schoolchildren in field engineering schools;
4. Brought together 500 fellowship students and 250 teachers - granted for the organization of project work;
5. Held more than 70 competitions covering 46 regions of Russia;
6. Carries the main image and semantic load of the Sistema CF as a charitable organisation improving modern education and the social sphere.

Since 2020, the program has connected an online format to train and internships at Sistema JSFC available throughout the country. At the moment, four months after the launch, more than 80,000 users have already registered on the platform. This number greatly exceeded the expectations of the project authors. The platform has more than 40 courses to enrich knowledge for subsequent successful work in the most relevant industries: from engineering to banking, agroindustry and others. All courses and programs are available on the portal free of charge. “Lift to the Future” materials can be freely used when organizing training, master classes, training events, meetings with job applicants, etc. In 2019 - 2020, the foundation opened five engineering classes in Kostroma and Rostov regions and Bashkortostan republic. We also launched 15 career counselling classes in the Arkhangelsk region and Udmurtia, Komi and Altai’s republics.

Enabling factors and constraints

The white-label approach allowed us to reduce the time for product development. Instead of 1-2 years of coding, the team launched the project during a few months with a small development team. Moreover, we reached the highest market evaluation by top-1 business media in Russia (RBC). Thus we claim our project as the most extensively growing EdTech project in Russia. We caught the wave of corporate HrTech innovation in Russia and became the first widely opened platform for young employees. The deep understanding of internal corporate needs allowed us to involve more than 20 HR partners from affiliates and subsidiaries. That provides the platform internal loyalty and 500+ vacancies affordable for young specialists at this first stage. The goal was to create an HR tech ecosystem that will guide students on the corporate ladder. Thanks to stakeholders, we made the project happen, and now it represents career and educational opportunities for everyone widely.

Sustainability and replicability

We plan to scale the project:

1. At schools by providing the teachers with information about vocational guidance methodology. In January we started the program with 150 schools, and now we've received 4500 applications from schools all over the country
2. We share the content with universities career centres for free to master the preparation of the students
3. New courses launch is planned about different professions
4. The budget for the following year is 65% more than the previous one.

Amendments to Federal Law No. 7-FZ “On Non-Profit Organizations” introduced since 2012 stipulate that an NPO that receives foreign funding and participates in political activities in Russia can be recognized as a foreign agent. This status imposes a number of restrictions, including a ban on the distribution of materials without marking them as ones coming from a foreign agent, as well as the obligation to provide the Ministry of Justice with detailed information about their activities.

According to Federal Law No. 129-FZ of May 23, 2015, a foreign or international non-governmental organization whose activities pose a threat to the security of Russia may be recognized as undesirable. This status entails a number of restrictive measures, including freezing the accounts of the organization, shutting down branch offices and prohibiting it from distributing any materials.

In November 2019 the government released the Concept of Assistance to the Development of Charitable Activities in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, aimed at developing charitable activities in the country. The Concept drafts principle areas of further action in this area, namely developing international cooperation and supporting charitable activities in the constituent entities of the country, increasing efficiency and support for charitable activities of citizens and organizations.

NPOs in Russia are generally regulated by the Federal Law on NPOs (Federal Law No. 7-FZ, "On Non-Profit Organizations”, January 12, 1996); however, this law provides a sub-category of NPOs called ‘charitable organisations’, which can be considered as a particular status that public associations, foundations, institutions, and some other NPO forms can commit themselves to. Charitable organizations are specifically regulated by another Federal Law on Charitable Organizations (Federal Law No. 135-FZ, "On Charitable Activities and Volunteering," August 11, 1995) and thus are subject to a number of additional limitations as well as unique tax benefits. For example, a charitable organisation obliges to spend no less than 80% of its income on its statutory goals and purposes.

According to the Concept of Assistance to the Development of Charitable Activities in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, approved in 2019, charitable organizations enjoy a variety of tax benefits. Moreover, as a response to COVID-19 pandemic, the  government provided tax breaks for business to donate to civil society organizations providing social services. All donations were made tax deductible. The government also wrote off all taxes except VAT for CSOs in the second quarter of 2020.

Private donations can be considered a full-fledged part of Russian philanthropy structure. Professional community efforts, state support, involvement of opinion leaders and technological development led to Russians increasingly taking part in charitable activities: one can donate money both by traditional ways and via SMS or online, making a single donation or subscribing to regular ones. According to the 2019 CAF Russia Giving Report, more than half of Russians were involved in charitable activities, and 36% of them were donating online.

The Law on Social Entrepreneurship (Federal Law No. 245-FZ) entered into force in 2019, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to qualify for the status of social enterprises. This status gives them the right to receive various kinds of support from the state, including property and information support. Unlike other types of NPOs, a social enterprise is primarily engaged in commercial activities, but this activity should be aimed at achieving socially beneficial goals.

An endowment in Russia is a special fund that can be established by an NPO with donations from its donors. Endowments should be managed by a qualified management company under a contract with its NPO owner. The generated income can only be used in pursuit of NPO’s statutory goals, with the minimum term for establishing an endowment being ten years.

An institution is a unitary NPO created by the owner to carry out managerial, socio-cultural or other functions of a non-profit nature. A major difference between an institution and other forms of NPO is that subsidiary liability for the institution's debts may be imposed on its owner. State and municipal institutions play a vital role in education, culture, health care and social protection. The vast majority of services in these areas are obtained by Russian citizens in such institutions. Private institutions are rare and they usually work in the sphere of culture and additional education.

Legal entities and (or) citizens can form an association based on voluntary membership to represent and protect common, including professional, interests, to achieve socially useful goals, as well as other non-commercial goals.