Via Bona laureate: When donating is not only about money

Category: Main Award for a Responsible Small/Middle-Sized Company

Teaching people to donate. This is the leitmotif behind the philanthropic activities of the software company Anasoft.

The company is trying to involve its employees in the activities it is doing or supporting. An example of this is its participation in the Úsmev Ako Dar (Smile as a Gift) financial collection, which helps children from orphanages.

“We organised a financial auction last Christmas, to which our employees donated interesting auction items, like their own paintings or original jewellery,” said Lucia Turiničová, marketing manager at Anasoft, adding that they auctioned more than €2,300 that went to families in need.

Not just money

IT experts offer more than just money. One of the valuable items they have is their skills and hand-on experiences. Anasoft is providing technical support to online donor website LudiaLudom.sk, which helps generate money for people in need, patients who need money for treatment immediately, and organisations with specific aims.

“Our employees offer other ideas for volunteering activities,” Turiničová said.

This includes managing websites for civic associations, organising collections of clothes and furniture for children’s homes, and helping with organising the Mile for Mom event. In addition, the company and its employees hand down experiences to younger generations.

Anasoft has been co-organising for eight years the biggest international robotic competition called First Lego League for teenagers, whose aim is to help young people gain knowledge in robotics and programming. Children aged 10-16 programme robots made of Legos, who then complete various missions.

The Junior Achievement event is similar, focused on educating students who come to Anasoft and spend some time there. Accompanied by a team composed of the company’s employees, they are shown individual departments and they discuss various topics, Turiničová said.

Connecting IT and literature

The crucial non-IT project the company is actively participating in is the Anasoft Litera award, to which the company contributes tens of thousands of euros every year.

“Both the writing of books and development of software are creative activities,” Turiničová said.

When the company introduced the award 13 years ago, it did not expect it to become the most successful and most respected literary award in Slovakia.

“We had big ambitions though,” Turiničová admitted.

Throughout the years, several events accompanying the main competition were added. There are discussions with the authors and book readings held across Slovakia. In addition, famous Slovak actors read extracts from the winning book during the Night of Literature.

Turiničová also points to the new addition, the René award, whose aim is to introduce literature to the younger generation.

Paper-free office

Anasoft is also proving it can be an environmentally-friendly company. It has developed several applications to support the digital transformation of companies, with one of them being a paper-free office. The system allows the administration of properties, like dealing with bills or processing data of more than 500,000 flats, without using paper.

“We are the first testers of our solutions,” Turiničová said, adding that they are, for example, signing various documents and post via tablets, driving e-cars and supporting environmentally friendly calls, like the recycling of waste.