Volunteer Practices in the System of Socially Oriented Activities of Organizations

Social responsibility of companies today is considered as an indispensable element of their sustainable development. Involvement in socially beneficial activities has a number of effects that positively affect both the growth of the company’s publicity capital and the motivation of employees, as well as the mutual influence of the “society-business” system. This article reveals the peculiarities of volunteer practices as a socially oriented activity of Russian organizations. The data on global and Russian practices of involvement in volunteer activities are collected and systematized. It shows the low level of participation of commercial organizations in the implementation of volunteer initiatives and quite developed participation of the public and non-profit sector in volunteer practices. The main directions of volunteering, demanded at the present stage in the Russian society, within which it is possible to designate prospects for the development of socially oriented activity of companies, are defined. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, and the methods of economic and sociological analysis are used to obtain the results.