A year ago, at the “Person of the Year” award, Sergey Kim, founder of the international group of companies TIKSAN GROUP, presented to the public a large-scale charity project “Heart of Business”.

This year, the company took a logical step - it became the founder of the award category, which rewards those who do good deeds. And she gave her the name of her project - “Heart of Business”.

Has TIKSAN GROUP been able to instill a culture of systematic charity in the business community this year and why businesses need to do good deeds? A conversation took place with Sergei Kim and a journalist from Delovoy Kvartal about this.

Many companies are involved in charity, but in such a way as to make it one of the main activities, to create a project - there are only a few such examples in Krasnoyarsk. How did this idea come about?

“For many years we have been engaged in so-called emotional charity, when you cannot ignore someone else’s misfortune. They transferred money for operations for children, expensive medicines, helped fire victims, and, in general, responded to SOS signals. But I really wanted there to be as few such reasons for charity as possible. And the main focus would be creating opportunities. Therefore, the idea arose to create a project that accumulates and finances funds that create such opportunities. This is how the “Step by Step to a Dream” foundation appeared in our project, which is effectively creating an accessible environment for people with disabilities in Krasnoyarsk. Their wards, which are 630 people, are not sitting at home. They have the opportunity to attend gyms and cultural events, because thanks to the activity of the fund’s leaders, the conditions they need have been created there. Now they are planning to organize a rafting trip on the Mana River. And I am sure that they will do this, and we will help them with this.

Or the VMeste Foundation, in which people united for mutual assistance and professional support for those struggling with cancer and their loved ones. My wife, Nadezhda Tsoi, who now heads the “Heart of Business” project, admitted that she was very afraid to go to this particular organization. She was afraid that she would face such pain that it would crush her. And she returned from them and excitedly talked about what beautiful, positive and hopeful women she had met.

I myself was impressed by meeting the head of the Krasnoyarsk Without Orphans Foundation, Ruslan Mokrousov. We are looking in the same direction, but in some ways he has surpassed me. I have four children, and he became a father to 12 adopted children. I raise successful entrepreneurs, instilling in them the idea that success largely depends not only on one’s own abilities and skills, but also on the right environment, on a good mentor. Ruslan strives to shape a prosperous future for children from orphanages. And this task is more difficult than mine. I work with accomplished people with formed convictions. The children Ruslan works with are deprived of parents, family, values, and traditions. They have no authority, and the right environment and a strong mentor nearby are even more important to them.

A lot can be said about each of the nine funds included in the project. They are different, but I repeat, they have one thing in common: they are about opportunities. The projects of nine funds that they dream of implementing require 32 million rubles. The amount is large, but quite affordable for a city with a population of millions.

The Heart of the Business is the platform through which you offer to provide assistance. Why go to the site if you can donate money specifically to the fund?

— Entrepreneurs know little about funds. If we ask what NGOs they can name, we will hear one...two names. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, there is a lack of trust in charity. If a person suddenly decides to start helping, an information abyss opens up before him. He sees posts on social networks, unfamiliar names of funds. In this situation, the question increases: who can you calmly help?

I want to emphasize that we do not compete with funds. Companies are free to participate in philanthropy in any way that suits them. We only offer to help proven Krasnoyarsk funds that accurately solve a social problem. Our website is being improved and has new functionality. Not only companies, but also individuals can make donations through it.

Recently, your wife Nadezhda said in her speech that she had fallen out of love with Konstantin Khabensky, because when she asked entrepreneurs to support the “Heart of Business” project, she was told that they were already helping Khabensky’s fund...
- This, of course, was a joke - about dislike, to attract attention, because Konstantin Khabensky deserves respect both as an actor and as a philanthropist. But I would like Krasnoyarsk residents to help small regional funds, for which even 10...15 thousand rubles is already a very significant contribution.

I donate 10% of my earnings to charity. This is my personal initiative, but I use my brand to attract more people. The social responsibility of business is not only to help themselves, but also to motivate the audience to do so.

Managed?

“We are moving towards this goal in small steps. There are now more than twenty companies in the project. These are also the divisions of TIKSAN GROUP that joined the project because charity is built into our corporate culture. Both our business partners and private individuals. After Nadezhda’s emotional speech at the “Leader’s Code” forum, one of our speakers, Olga Kharitonova, donated 230 thousand rubles to the project. The owner of the Law and Business legal agency, Dmitry Tkachev, volunteered to help a ward of the Mother's House Foundation in a family drama. Photographer Kristina Zyryanova found us herself and arranged a photo shoot for the children of one of the foundations. I am sure there will be more and more such stories every day, because TIKSAN GROUP is a company trusted by many Krasnoyarsk residents, and we provide a reliable platform and tools for transparent charity.

Why, in your opinion, should businesses engage in charity?

— Charity can solve several business problems. Firstly, it talks about the sustainability of the company. It is difficult to engage in charity if basic needs are not met: there is no stable income, problems with personnel or partners. Participating in good deeds means that the organization is doing well and employees have the time and resource to think about helping someone else. I judge by our company. A common good deed brought the team together, as it evokes a strong emotional response. And you know, during the year that “Heart of Business” has been operating, TIKSAN GROUP employees have mastered important soft skills. This is the ability to communicate with funds and the entrepreneurial community, skills of persuasion, discussion, decision-making, empathy towards one’s clients, compassion for them, in a word, everything that is commonly called emotional intelligence. Therefore, social responsibility works on a win-win principle and is beneficial to all its participants.

Reviews

Ruslan Mokrousov
fund "Krasnoyarsk without orphans":
Behind the “Heart of Business” project is the head of a large company, and the feedback and response to our needs is already different than if we addressed it ourselves.

Here there is trust in a well-known entrepreneur, people and businesses respond more readily. This is a good example for other regions of the country, when NGOs that solve various social problems and businesses have united. There is power in such collaboration.

Yulia Dronina
crisis center "Mother's House":
Participation in the “Heart of Business” project helped us pay for utilities and rent for a new premises; we were able to install a videophone at the entrance.

We have many women hiding from domestic violence, and their safety is very important! A trauma psychologist has appeared in the project, this is also a big step forward. It is almost impossible for women who have experienced violence to cope with this trauma on their own. Even the curtains and bedspreads on the beds in the new premises appeared thanks to the “Heart of Business” project. But the most important thing is that we have the faith that we are not alone, and together we can cope with any tasks. The “Heart of Business” project is unique. Because here they try not just to help without thinking, but to analyze and develop a whole strategy on how to do this so that the help becomes targeted and complete!

I communicate a lot with foundations from other cities, there is nothing like it there. Usually funds come and try to convince businesses of the need for their work in order to get help.