It works to meet the needs of the most vulnerable families and children, helping both international NGOs and local charities to take action locally and globally. It also works to set up social businesses in France and in the group’s countries of production (Madagascar, Bangladesh, China and India), which helps projects to endure in the long-term by replacing charity with social enterprise. Our employees embody this community spirit on a daily basis. At head office and in stores, our staff become our ambassadors, sponsoring projects and supporting charities in a concrete way through volunteer days.

Download the 2017 report

Some figures from 2017:

• 50,000 children helped
• 30 NGOs and charities funded
• 122,000 red noses sold as part of the Make Someone Smile campaign
• 420,000 euros donated to charity through customer mini-donation campaigns around the world
• 500 employee sponsors/volunteers helped to educate children in Bangladesh
• 550 employees involved in volunteer days

In 2018, the ÏDKIDS foundation became the ÏDKIDS community endowment fund, so that even more could be done to help the most vulnerable children around the world. The endowment fund will allow us to expand the ÏDKIDS community and unite external stakeholders by leveraging the financial and human resources of public authorities, private companies, suppliers, partners, NGOs, charities and other foundations.

•  Let’s hear from Cécile Delivre, head of the ÏDKIDS foundation
  

“It all started in 2003 when the OKworld charity was set up to protect children’s rights. In 2007 OKworld became a ”foundation”, whose main aim was to fund activities in our countries of production, primarily through the NGO Inter Aide.

Over time we began to support more local French charities, which allowed ÏDKIDS community employees to get involved. I have been working for the foundation since 2011 and over the years I have come up with many different ways for our employees and ÏDKIDS community brands to be involved. The project has grown beyond recognition! Key campaigns include the first Love Maille initiative with Obaïbi (which has since been adopted by Jacadi) and the first mini-donation drive in 2015. The foundation’s ambassadors grow more numerous every year. And we have also pursued a number of different initiatives in our countries of production, including a social business in Bangladesh in 2016 initiated by Okaïdi. All these actions combined make the foundation what it is today, placing it at the heart of the ÏDKIDS community and empowering people by involving every stakeholder, including employees, customers, partners, other foundations and charities.

In 2017, the most notable change was the launch of our mini-donation and Make Someone Smile initiatives overseas. The campaigns were a great success; for example, the first mini-donation campaign in Italy raised almost 60,000 euros for the charity Dynamo Camp. It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm and commitment from our store teams and generosity from our customers!

New in January 2018 was our change to the ÏDKIDS community endowment fund. It’s yet another way of broadening our reach, boosting our visibility, generating additional commitment and funding and working more closely with international organizations and NGOs.

The message for anyone who wants to make a difference is that we can all do our own little bit to change the world. Mini-donations are proof of this: our customers around the world gave us a little bit of change and raised €420,000 for children’s charities. There are lots of ways you can be involved in the foundation, from donating half a day of your time to a much bigger commitment. We also want children and their parents to work with us, so that they can play a part in shaping their future world.”